Chōkyōshi Shiriusu kimono(the Sirius beast tamer)
by Roringugaru
Summary: "Wait you mean you guys are the Sirius crew from the Yamato Legend?" "Yes..." six diffent pairs of arms wrapped around my body in different locations making me tense "But you know what this means too though right Reisaki?" "Wh-what?" someone's lips caress my ear, "It means you are our master now...master of the Sirius crew." Oc X Christopher may become M later
1. Chapter 1

**Ok I know I keep starting stories but at least I go back and type on the others I cant help myself. I just got this game and couldn't put it down. It was so adictingXD. Well anyway here you go!**

_Chōkyōshi Shiriusu kimono(the Sirius beast tamer)_

Purorōgu: Shiriusu no norikumiin no densetsu(Prologue: the legend of the Sirius crew)

"Bāchan, Bāchan! Tell me the story again." And elderly lady lifts a tiny three year old girl onto her lap lightly laughing.

"My little Neko… how many times have I told you the legend?" the grandmother lightly taps her grand daughters nose with a finger. The girls eyes dance like cobalt stars yet there is a tint of yellow in the center that can be seen. Her hair held up in cute dark brown pig tail as her bangs frame her face sweetly. Her grand mother could tell just by looking that she would grow up to be a very beautiful young lady. The old woman laughs, "Very well my little neko. Listen closely now. Are you ready?" the little girl nods her head like crazy.

_The Sirius was a ship that had a crew that sailed where heart of those on board wanted to go. The crew was consisted of six members in all, each had a price on their head bestowed on them by the Moldor Navy. You see even though they were not the sort that attacked people or didn't care about anyone they were still pirates of course. There was the pirate king himself: Captain Morgan he was a bit…nice to women but when it came to travels there was no one better to lead the Sirius crew. Russell was a fine swordsman who liked to get into a rumble with rivals every now and again. He was loyal to his friends as were all the members yet he would try to hide it behind a rather unusual reason. Christopher was the doctor of the ship who could never find a reason to frown. He was the sensible one of the group trying to make them think twice before getting into an unnecessary fights; yet when it came right down to it he would fight to defend his friends as well. Nathan was the chef on the ship along with being able to give commands for the cannons. No one could match him when it came to fighting with a sickle sword. Although he was quiet on the ship he was never afraid to speak his mind and trusted his allies completely. Eduardo was the mate of the ship and the best navigator that any crew could have. No one could match his skill. He was a bit cold towards people but he had an underlining sweet side that not many people ever got the chance to see including his own ship mates. The final crew member was Thomas; he was still a green horn on the ship but he was still very brave for one so young as a pirate. As I, said the Sirius crew was not like most pirates: they never attacked the innocent, the only found treasure hidden in different islands from legends if they could help it and they always looked out for one another. They went on many adventures and visited many towns and ports and collected as many treasures as they could find. Yet at the end of the day it was all about the adventure for them. One day they heard of a treasure on one of the islands near Yamato they even got ahold of the map that would show them the way. _

_However this treasure was said to be charmed and didn't even exist at least not gold or jewels. However they didn't know this little fact. The treasure, my dear neko was the chance to experience freedom the kind of freedom that only the animals of the wild could even hope to experience. Now this charmed treasure whoever was to discover it was to give them this experience however in order to experience they would have to give one thing up in return for it. What that thing was, no one is really certain. Well without knowing about the charm or even the fact that the treasure didn't really exist as they thought it did they went to this island. The island was called Nakayama; it was abandoned a long time ago due to the fact that not very many crops could grow there so it was easy for them to find the cave where it was hidden. The only so called trap they had to face was many riddles left by the one who buried the treasure. When they reached the treasure vault there was a big chest waiting for them. As you could imagine, my little neko, they were thrilled to see the chest. But when they opened it, there was nothing inside but a rolled up parchment. Each took their time trying to figure out that the riddle on the parchment or rather the one sentence: Yaseide wa, subete no ningen no tame no shin no jiyūdearu. Now as you could well image none of them knew how to speak the ancient language of our country. However, the charm was activated once they all touched it. The parchment vanished along with the Sirius crew. The charm had been activated and it was cast on them. How ever no one knows what happened to them. They never appeared after that. It was strange no one was sure what even happened. Some claimed they went down in the Bloody Triangle other say a giant serpent with many heads took their lives. Of course none of those theories have ever been proven. However there was another part to the charm that was casted. Only one person and their descendants would be able to hear them they would be given a special talent for being able to hear the voice of the animals and the Sirius crew. _

"Their disappearance was over one hundred years and no one knows what really happened to them little neko. But I have a feeling someone will find out what happened to them someday." The old woman patted they girl on her head. "Now little neko it is time for you to go to sleep."

"But Bāchan-"

**-**howl-

"Wolves!" the little girl ran outside staying on the porch of their home staying away from the nearby forest. "Listen Bāchan! It's wolves." The grandmother comes over to listen with her granddaughter.

"Yes my little neko; they howl to greet the full moon." They both watch as the large glowing sphere rises higher into the sky and listen to the howls that greet it.

Mori to hanasu ōkami o kiku koto ga dekita shōjo(the girl who could hear the forest and the wolf who speaks)

Birds were chirping in my ears as I stirred from my dream. The sun was just coming up as I looked the wall. The wood was shining with the first rays of light.

"Bāchan…" I sat up rubbing the sleep from my eyes. It had been about three years since my Bāchan had past away. That was on the week of my sixteenth birthday. Now this house is too big and quiet; but it's still my home and I love it just the same. I turn to my left and see a picture of Bāchan on the wall. I smile happily, "Good morning Bāchan."

My morning consisted of what I normally do every day: get dressed, eat breakfast, sweep the floor then put bird seed out in bowl for the near by birds. Some of the same ones from previous times flock over right away after I set the bowl down. As I watch them a sparrow lands on my shoulder and greets me in a tiny sweet voice:

"Good morning Reisaki!" I was scared at first when I began to hear animals talk a while back when I was seven but eventually it became a normal thing for me to hear them now.

"Good morning." The sparrow leaves my shoulder to go enjoy its meal. Judging from the sunlight that was now rising higher over the forest it was about nine. I headed back inside to grab my bag and a basket for shopping. By now the shops should be open by now. It was a fifteen minute walk to the town since I lived on the out on the outskirts. Once there the town was alive with many others in Yamato going about their business.

**Let's see I need: ginger, yams, and some spices…what were they again? **

**-Sigh****- oh well I guess I can think of it later.**

I couple of kids pass by playing with wooden swords chasing each other around before I head to the first shop I have to go to. I buy the items I can think of first that I need before walking around thinking of what else I need to buy. Once done with that (and unable to think of what spices I need) there are a few stores I check out for window shopping. There's a jewelry stand that catches my eye.

"Oh! How pretty!" there's one with a gold chain and a glass bird as the decoration. Another looks as though it's a tear drop on a leather chain.

**They all seem so pretty; I can't choose which one I like more. **

There's a commotion from down the street with people screaming an others shouting angrily.

**There's a bar down that way; someone may be fighting.**

That wasn't the case though. Suddenly two wolves come charging this way. One was a blond colored wolf while the other behind him was a light sandy brown. They each had something that looked like chunks of meat in their mouths. The sales man soon cam running after them with a meat clever in his hands

"You wild mutts! Come back here!" the man was sweating from being out of shape. He throws the clever hitting the slower wolf on the hind leg. With a yelp he drops the meat and makes a break for it with the other one. My anger rises as I glare at the butcher huffing and puffing. I could hear the wolf screaming. Leaving the butcher alone my teeth dig into my lower lip at the thought of what could have really happened, at least he didn't make it so the wolf couldn't walk. The butcher picks up the tainted meat and heads back for his shop.

"Reisaki." My skin begins to crawl when I hear the smooth voice. A hand suddenly intrudes and tilts my chin up to see dark brown pools staring at me. I push Toma away from me and get a better look at him. His hair reminds me of a raven and he's the kind of guy that thinks he can get any girl he wants. Apparently he thinks that he can get me as well. "Out shopping again Reisaki. You and I really should stop meeting like this."

"Meeting like what? You're the one that tends to think it's fate we meet up together." I say annoyed.

"Oh come now don't be so cold Reisaki." He tries to reach for my cheek but my hand slaps it away. "Still playing hard to get? You're mean…"

"No actually I'm tying to tell you to piss off; I'm not interested. Go get one of your fan girls to be you flame."

"They don't have the assets like you do. You have and even amount of everything a woman needs for her body."

**Ugh… from him that's more of an insult.**

"…Give me a break." I roll my eyes.

"That's what I like about you though Reisaki." His arms snake their way around my waist drawing me closer to him. "You aren't like the other girls who swoon over me at first sight."

"I'm sure I'm not the only one…"

"In Yamato you are." He leans in trying to steal a kiss from me. Out of the corner of me eye I spot a hawk and ask him for help. It takes me a minute to bribe him with some meat I have back at home but eventually he agrees. The hawk swoops in and goes for Toma's face. His hands release me and Toma slips on his own feet hitting the ground with a bid thud. The hawk joins me again and I make a break for it before he has the chance to grab me again.

…

Back home the hawk awaits for me to give him the meat I promised him.

"Don't you have paws of your own to fight back with?" he asks me as if he's all high and mighty.

"Well I do but I'm not strong enough to fight him off."

"You should become stronger so you don't weigh us animals down with your problems."

"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to be a bother to you…um… what's your name by the way?"

" I am called gold feather."

"Well thank you for your help Mr. Gold Feather."

"…Where is the meat you promised?" I go back to fixing the plate for him of meat and place it on the table for him to enjoy. He eyes the meat thoroughly before looking at me, "You have good eye for meat. You must enjoy it a lot."

"Well-"

"Reisaki! Reisaki!" the sparrow from earlier today flies into my kitchen from the open door. She lands on the table ignoring the hawk as it eats.

"What is it?"

"He's- he's caught in a trap! One of the hunters set a trap in the forest! He's trapped in it! You have to help him." I was known in the forest as the girl that helped the animals when one was injured or in trouble they would come to me for help if there was something I could do.

"Who is it?" I ask.

"It's a wolf! He looks like he's in a lot of pain too."

"Ok Speck show me." I allowed the Gold feather to stay and finish his meal, grabbing a pack I have ready for this sort of situation I head out with Speck leading the way. The forest is dense but going in with Bāchan when I was younger I learned how to navigate through it. Speck leads me through the forest stopping on a tree or bush to make sure I'm still following. Other animals soon follow after me as we head deeper into the forest. A fox soon comes up to me along with a bear cub. Two friends I've known for a long time.

"This way Reisaki." The fox says. They lead the way heading for a clearing. The wolf the informed me about was sitting there struggling to break free from a rope tied to an anchor about three feet away. Looking at the rope burn he's been going at it for a wile trying to break free. Blood stains his fur on his hind leg and looking more closely at it there's a gash on it. It suddenly dawns on me that it's the same wolf that was injured from earlier back in the town.

**Poor thing he must get into a lot of trouble every now and again.**

I walk over as he takes a break from pulling on its leg any more. A twig snaps as I walk over to him making him look up at me. His ears go back as he tries to put on a brave face showing his teeth and making his fur stand on end. It's clear though especially when I stare into his brown eyes that he's scared more than anything else. I give a reassuring smile hoping to get him to calm down,

"Y-you stay away from me!" he snarls

"It's ok. I'm not going to hurt you." I take a step forward,

"I-I mean it! Stay… stay back!"

**His fur and the wound on his leg…it's the same one from before. He isn't going to trust me if try getting closer; he'll keep getting more panicked if I do. **

-Sigh- his ears prick up s I sit down. The fox named dark par and the bear cub Fuzzy claw come and sit next to me along with other finding a place to sit. Two chipmunks find my lap to be comfortable while Speck and a few other birds come to rest on my shoulders and head. The wolf's fur finally rests back on his body comfortably as he watches.

"Can…can you understand me?" I look at the young wolf and smile.

"Yes that's right. Is that ok?"

"Well it's just… I didn't think any human could understand us."

"hmm…?"

"You're the first human I've seen come into this forest by themselves. What are you doing out here anyway?"

**seems as though his curiosity has been sparked now.**

"Speck here told me you were in trouble. So I came out here to give a hand." His eyes widen, "Something wrong?"

"Your that girl that we hear about helping the animals in the forest then? The others and I hear about you helping the animals when they're hurt or in trouble no matter how scary it is." I can't help but giggle,

"My have I become that popular?"

"Yes!"

"Now you said we just a moment ago…are you talking about your pack?"

"Yeah, there're six of us in all."

"Six huh? That's a nice even number." 

"I'm the youngest out of all of them."

**He seems to have calm down enough…maybe now he'll let me help him.**

"Say do you mind telling me your name?" I ask still petting the chipmunks in my lap.

"I…I don't know if the others would like me saying anything else."

" Well how bout I tell you my name first. Then you can tell me yours. Will that work?"

"…I guess so."

"I'm Reisaki." He just stared at me for a moment or two before he answers,

"I'm Thomas…" **what did he just say?** "Wh-what's with that look on your face?"

"I'm sorry I just have never heard of an animal of any kind with that kind of name. That's a human name."

"Oh well…that's my name so I can't really change it."

**How strange he has a human name…was he raised in captivity and then release in the wild? Well I can worry about that later.**

"Listen Thomas I saw you and your pack mate escape earlier today in the village-"

"It wasn't my idea! He made me come along even though he knew we weren't supposed to go there!"

"No that's alright I'm not going to scold you or anything like that Thomas."

"You're not?"

"No of course not; although you should be more careful not all humans are like me. try not to be so obvious about it next time." I laugh.

"Oh…um ok."

"What I was going to say is that wound on your leg actually looks worse than what I though it was and the fact that it's the same leg you've been pulling on for a while now it may have opened up even more."

"Well, Russell said he was going to go get the others to help me get out of here but that was a while a ago. I've been trying to get out of here myself."

"Russell…? Is that the name of the wolf you were with today?"

"Yes it is." **Hmm…I wonder if he was raised in captivity too.**

"listen Thomas I can get that rope off your leg but if I do you need to let me take a look at the wound ok?"

"What?! N-no! The others are coming to help me; I don't need help from a human. Even if you are nice to us animals! I've already said too much anyway! The others will probably get mad at me for telling you what I already have along with going to the village today!"

"But Thomas if you keep pulling with that leg trying to break free you may end up breaking your leg instead along with causing the wound to open even more…you'll just end up getting hurt even more than you already are." I'm sure my expression is giving away the concern I have for him. "Please Thomas I just want to help… I promise I won't do anything to hurt you. I don't want to see you get hurt even further." His ears go back as he thinks about it.

"You promise you won't do anything else but take a look at it."

"I promise." He sits calmly yet looks at me with nervous eyes.

"Ok…" the animals move out of the way to allow me to move again. I remove my pack and rummage through it to find a knife that I can use to cut the rope. Hearing a shy whine I look over at Thomas

"Oh no don't worry! This is just to cut the rope from the trap so I don't yank on your leg trying to get the rope off. I promise."

"O-Ok…" I walk over, kneel down and pick up the rope. At the same time I can feel Thomas' gaze on me staring intently. Looking at him, I smile and pet him behind the ear with my free hand.

"Trust me… ok?" he still stares but his body seems to relax a little bit more than he was before. The rope cuts easily with a flick of the wrist and immediately I set the knife down so not to scare him any more. I take a look to see how the rope is wrapped around his hind leg before even messing with it. It turns out to be an easy fix. It doesn't take me but a minute to get rid of the rope around his leg. other than a bad rope burn it didn't do too much damage.

"Thank you very much." Thomas says.

"Its fine… the rope burn shouldn't be any problem but the gash on your leg has me worried. You must have been pulling very hard weren't you? It's even deeper than what I thought."

"Is it?"

"Yes I'm not going to be able to take care of this here… you'll have to come home with me to let me fix it up."

"WH-WHAT?! No, no, no! I can't do that! They'll definitely get mad at me if I do that!"

"But you can barely even stand on that leg as is; look at yourself Thomas!" he's not even standing on it; let alone putting any weight on it.

"It's fine I can walk. See?" as soon as he sets his leg down on the ground he recoils with a terrible yelp of pain.

"You see Thomas, it's not fine at all! Please I promise I won't do anything to hurt you. But you need to come with me so I can take care of you." **I've never met an animal this stubborn before… sheesh..**

"But how can I even go with you? I can't even walk on my hind leg…and the others…they'll think something happened. They're expecting for me to be here when they show up."

"Is that what you're worried about? Your pack mates?"

"Yes! They'll think something happened to me if I'm not here! By the time we leave they'll have showed up!"

-sigh- "Alright then we can wait for them if you want so that way they know you're safe. Will that be ok?"

"Huh?"

"After words though you need to come with me so I can fix that leg properly ok?" I wink at him and smile.

"Miss Reisaki…"

"For now though…" I reach in my bag and grab a few medical supplies "at least let me bandage it up so insects cant get to it."

"You're so nice miss Reisaki…"

I start walking over to Thomas to help bandage him up when one of the bushes rustle without the help of wind. There's growling from all over sending the other animals running. I swallow hard.

"Um… Thomas is that you making that noise."

"No. Miss Reisaki you should run. It sounds like they're really mad right now even Christopher sounds mad and that's a hard thing to do…"

"You mean it's your pack…?"

"Miss Reisaki run now!" I try to run for the path I cam from but a dark black wolf jumps out from that area cutting me off. ** What the- an eye patch on his eye?** The eye that isn't covered is a yellowish brown color and it's staring at me with a cold glare. Four other wolves come out and surround me too all angry and ready to attack me. My mind goes blank from hearing all the growls and I drop all the items in my hand. I trip on a branch and land on my back looking a brown haired wolf in the face, its eyes are a cold faded brown color. I turn to my side and curl into a ball trying to cover myself as best I can. "Wait stop it you guys!" something furry stands over me and I look to see Thomas protecting me looking straight at the brown furred wolf. "Don't hurt her; she helped! She was only helping me Captain!"

"Thomas…? I thought you were caught in a trap." The one named Captain said.

"I was! Miss Reisaki- she cut the rope and was just looking after me. All she was doing was trying to tend to my leg."

"And after that?" another asks that turns out to be the blonde furred one from earlier in town.

"She said she would take me back to her home- but only to tend to my leg properly!" the growls all stop as they listen to Thomas. "Captain she can understand us; even right now she can hear what we're saying. She's the girl we've heard about from the other animals in the forest, you know the one who comes to help the ones that are hurt and in trouble." Captain comes down to my level and stares at me curiously,

"Is that true woman; can you understand us?" all I'm able to manage is a nod. He looks up at Thomas, "This is why we shouldn't go into the village; something worse could have happened."

"B-But it was Russell's idea to go hunting for meat in the village!"

"Hey you little snitch don't say anything else!" the blonde says.

"Why am I not surprised?" There's a whitish black wolf that shakes his head as if he was used to such antics. He looks at me with kind dark brown eyes, "sorry for the scare; we thought you were a hunter they way Russell was going on about Thomas being trapped and all. Are you alright?"

"I…yes I am." Thomas allows me to sit up. "Um I don't want to hurt him and you're welcome to come along if you want to watch and make sure he's ok; but Thomas' leg is pretty messed up right now. I think it even may need stitches. If it's not taken care of there's a good possibility it could become infected. My home isn't too far from here." I turn to Captain seeing as how it looks as though he's the alpha of the group. "Um…if it's alright, Captain, at least until his leg is all better would it be alright if he stayed with me at my place?" he gives a big toothy grin laughing

"Actually my name is Morgan, that's just something they all call me." **oh…** "You really think his leg is that bad?" I nod with a serious look. "Alright then we'll stay with you until his leg is better. But we're not house dogs…Reisaki was it?"

"Oh no don't worry. I have no intention of keeping you as pets. I'll even leave the door open so you can come and go as you please."

"We're really going to trust her?" I look at a dark blonde furred wolf who stares at me with a blank expression framed with brown eyes.

"I agree with Nathan…Captain you should reconsider." The eye patch wolf says looking at me coldly.

"Well even if I didn't we don't really have a choice; we can't just leave Thomas the way he is and she's offering to help. Beside I think we can trust what the animals say about her and I think that's proof enough she can be trusted." Speck came back at one point during the conversation and rested on my shoulder allowing me to pet her.

"Oh yes! You can definitely trust Reisaki. She's really nice to us animals." She vouches for me. With that there are no more objections.

"Alright then… so Reisaki where do you live?" Morgan asks me. I look at Thomas thinking he shouldn't walk on it. **He seems like he'd be light enough for me to carry**.

I reach over and pet him before carefully picking him up allowing his leg to hang comfortably.

"M-miss Reisaki I can walk!"

"No it's fine Thomas. You need to stay off that leg." I turn to the others "This way."


	2. Chapter 2

Otagai o shitte iku, hitori de iru on'nanoko (Getting to know each other; the girl who is alone)

**Ok…this is unusual. All these wolves seem to have human names. Why is that? To be honest they don't even act like the average wolf I've ever met. Like frost eye; he seem to act like a loner as did the others in his pack that were passing through here at one point. Were they all raised in captivity and then let back into the wild or did they just happen to hear these names and decided to use them for their own names. I want to ask but…it doesn't seem like it's something I should ask. Besides I don't think it's that important. But it is a little weird.**

"Um…Miss Reisaki." I look at Thomas in my arms, "Aren't I heavy? I mean I know we just started heading to your place but…"

"It's fine. Actually, you remember Fuzzy Claw?" the wolf nods, "I can actually carry her no problem too so you're pretty light compared to her. I'll be fine besides it's not that far."

"Hahaha…You're pretty strong for a human girl if you can lift a bear cub huh?" Morgan laughs. **Was I saying something funny…? But it's the truth…** I can feel a slight blush on my face.

"Captain you shouldn't say things that could sound like an insult to a girl, even if she is human… honestly." Christopher seems to be the sensible one of their pack, "So what is it that you do for a living Reisaki?"

"Living?"

"Humans have to do something with their time right?" **well I don't really do anything with my time as in the sense I have a job…hmm how do I explain this?**

"Well…I don't really have a job per say… I preoccupy myself with staying here near the forest incase something happens to an animal. There's a cave I go to not to far from here that my Bāchan showed me a long time ago, it's hidden pretty well so only her and I know of the place. There's a bunch of moon stones that I use to get some money for shopping and things like that; but other than that I don't really go into the village unless I need to."

"You mean you spend all your time up here?" the one called Eduardo asks sounding smug. I don't answer his question. Suddenly my right foot decides to trip me and I go falling with Thomas face first. As quickly as I can I spin around so that I land on my back and the wind knocked out of me but Thomas remains unharmed.

"Miss Reisaki! Are you ok?" Christopher along with Morgan makes sure I'm all right.

"You're too dorky, aren't ya?" Nathan says whatever's on his mind; at least that's what I've come to figure out. Thomas moves out of the way for me to get up. It felt as though something caught on my foot so I take a look around to see where it came from. There's a rope around my foot and following it leads to an anchor in the ground.

"Baka! Oh those stupid hunters and their stupid traps and-!" furiously I tare the rope from around my foot and stand. While pulling my sleeves up I head over to the trap and kick it with the flat of my foot to loosen it. Once it's loose I yank it from the ground and place it angrily in my pack. I take a minute to compose using every curse word I can think of in the ancient Yamato language before I let out a puff. "Are you ok Thomas?" I look at the others with a smile.

"I'm ok…but what about you?"

"Dude didn't you see her just now?" Russell says, "That woman is fine; stop worrying about her and let's go."

"Russell!" Christopher shouts, "Mind your manners."

"What manners Doc? We're wolves." Eduardo smirks,

"Still she's kind enough to look after Thomas the least we can do is give her the same respect." **Wow…and I though I had seen everything… these wolves act more human than any other animal (including a few humans) than others I've seen. **

I go back and pick Thomas up again carefully before I lead the way again. The sun begins to go down by the time we make it to my home. Still holding onto Thomas I take my shoes off and enter the open door. There's a pillow that a feral cat has found comfortable that reluctantly moves when I ask them to. The pillow fluffs up a bit as I set Thomas down on it.

"Now you stay right there and don't even think about using that leg. I'll be right back." I leave the wolves in the room and head for my bedroom. I bow to the picture of Bāchan, "I'm home…" thinking of the supplies I need for tending to Thomas' leg before I grab them and head back out. When I come back out He's licking the wound. "Thomas…stop that… that's just going to make it worse."

"I can't help it!"

"We actually can't. It's in out nature… it's soothing." I look at Nathan who gives me a blank stare yet nits his eyebrows together,

"I understand that but still a wound like that, licking won't help." I take the bowl I picked up and go to fill it with water. Back where I have things waiting there's a few dried herbs I place in the bowl and let soak for a minute. While that takes place I take a close look getting an actual feel for what I need to do with it. "Hmm…" I look up and smile petting Thomas behind the ear again. "Good news it's not as bad as what I thought; you should be able to use it again within one week."

"What's the bad news?" I hear Morgan ask from behind.

"It still needs stitches." I take a cloth and soak it in the herb water and ring it out. "This will hurt a bit ok?" the cloth touches the wound only for a second before Thomas cries out making me draw back a few inches. "Jeeze Thomas!"

"That hurt!"

"I just said it would!"

"Well yeah but not that much!"

"Oh quit being such a baby! Look it's simple, you can either put up with the pain and let me fix your leg; or you can wait until the real pain starts when it gets infected! Your choice…" it doesn't take him long to make a decision and he allows me to tend to his leg. Thomas tries not to pull away as I wipe the wound clean with the herb water. After sterilizing the needle and thread, I go to work on patching on the wound. Carefully I try to stitch the skin together without causing him too much discomfort; I'm about half way finished when I hear a voice I hadn't in a while.

"What on earth is this?" I stop sewing as I hear her voice. "Reisaki, what is all this?"

"What does it look like? I'm trying to help an animal right now…"

"I can see that but you have a whole pack of mangy mutts in here."

"They're not mangy mutts; they're wolves." I snap as I continue to sew the wound up. "What do you even want Yūhi?"

"Could you at least stop what you're doing so I can talk to you properly?" I don't answer just continue to sew the wound. "This is why every one thinks you're weird… you do nothing but stay here in the outskirts and look after what should never have even existed. Your grandmother filled your head with such stupid ideas."

"Don't talk about Bāchan like that!" I say again stopping so not to mess with the work in front of me. "Go away, you're bothering me. I need to finish this." I was already finished but I didn't want to talk to her in the slightest bit. I took my time cutting the thread before tying it off but she was still insistent on staying trying to strike up a conversation with me. "What do you want from me?" I finally ask Yūhi hoping to get her to leave. I try not to look at her but notice her greying black hair pinned up and her blue eyes looking at me the whole time. As I ask her I pick up the items I was using her to clean up the mess.

"I want you to start acting normal; come to the village." **Normal she says… what does that even mean to her?** "Toma has even been asking about you. If you give up being here you could have a happy life."

"I already am happy! I don't need to be in the village for happiness and I certainly don't need that pig either!"

"Stop being stupid Reisaki and come home." She folds her arms.

"I am home…now I'm asking you to leave it. I have things to do." I fold my arms and glare. She doesn't move and tears start to sting the corners of my eyes. Suddenly the five wolves come and stand in front of me growling slightly. Realizing that she's out matched she backs away to the open door. Once she's out of sight they go back to laying down or sitting where they were before; Christopher is the only one that actually stays for a moment.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes…that's a norm around here…she likes to visit a lot." **Why does she always have to show up and say things like that? You're not normal. Come home. You are stupid… it's always like that. Why can't she just come and say something nice for once? I should be used to it by now. **

"_No matter what someone says about you; you are fine just the way you are my little neko…" _**...Bāchan**.

"Reisaki?" I look down at Christopher and smile patting him on the head,

"Sorry, I'm ok." Looking outside the sky has gone dark and I look around at the wolves in my home. **It's kind of strange…I feel like there is a reason why I met all of them today. Of course I don't want to keep them as pets but…**

Nathan lifts his head noticing my gaze,

"The heck are you starin' at?" **oops…**

"Nothing, nothing…" I didn't really feel much like eating after the conversation with Yūhi; I don't have much of an appetite. So I decide to head outside and freshen up. placing a tie in my hair helps to keep my hair out of the way as I make my way to a small pond. Standing by the pond I strip and enter the cold water. The sudden burst of cold sends shivers up and down my body. After about five minutes or so I get used to the water and relax. Staying near the edge I use it as a pillow flinging my arms on the grass and place my head on the ground. My eyes close as my muscles begin to relax and a sigh escapes my lips. Footsteps sound as I open my eyes from falling half asleep; a wolf's shadow peers over me looking down at me. Looking up I see Russell staring down at me. **Not exactly who I was expecting…**

"You've been out here a while. What's taking you so long?"

"Sorry I was just trying to relax a bit."

"Relax? You're supposed to be taking care of Thomas right now. He says he's getting hungry."

"Oh sorry…I'll be in in just a second."

"What ever…" he turns to head back inside, "Hey." My gaze goes back to him, "What that female said earlier, don't let it bother you so much. You may be weird for being able to talk to animals but to us that's a good thing. For once someone can actually understand us." **Russell…** "Don't get the wrong idea; we don't trust you at all; me especially. But you gotta stay focused on helping Thomas."

"Aw…Russell."

"Don't "Aw" me! Just get dressed already!" he trots off back in side leaving me alone. **How cute he was worried about me… he's right though I shouldn't let it bother me so much.**

…

A few days later I start my usual pattern of starting the day the wolves were the only thing that was different and of course I didn't mind one bit. Once again I feed the birds and even Gold Feather shows up to say hello. I honestly though that hawk was a bit high and mighty but he's proven otherwise now. Soon after I give Thomas a bowl of meat so he can eat as well. From the look of things these wolves get an early start; they're licking themselves clean of their kill. I check Thomas' leg and bandage it with new wrappings. I grab only an apple and a few carrots and make an omelet for breakfast. Soon after the other chores I had lined up for the day come after and it doesn't take long for me to finish many of those. As I sweep the floor Speck flies in and watches me with much interest. At the same time I can feel the wolves gaze on me as well. Once I finish with that I take a look at the room and it seems awfully plain to me.

"Hm…flowers maybe…the drapes aren't open either…"

"What are you going on about, mumbling to yourself like that?" I look at Eduardo plainly,

"Nothing…sheesh why do you have to be so cold?"

"I'm a wolf it's in my nature."

"…right…" **at least Nathan will talk to me normally…even though he says I'm dorky. Eduardo doesn't pull punches with his words… he's a bit of a jerk. **

"Quit putting like that would you; it was a joke."

"You joke? ...now that's a joke." His eye narrows at my comment. Nathan looks at him slightly amused

"What got no comeback to that?"

"Shut up." **I guess that's a yes.** Opening the drapes, the sky is a nice shade of blue indicating that the shops in town should be open by now. "What are you smiling about?" I walk pass Eduardo and kneel down next to Thomas,

"I'm going into town for a bit; think you can manage on your own for now?"

"Hey don't ignore me!" I hear the eye patch wearing wolf snarl.

"I'll be ok Miss Reisaki; um…thank you for taking care of me."

"Sure. No problem." I turn to the others, "I'll leave the door open so you can come and go as you please."

"Hold on a sec." I turn to Morgan the "Captain" of the group. "Take Nathan and Eduardo with you." **What?**

"What?" they both look at him surprised.

"Yeah she may need some help carrying her things; it's the least we can do seeing as how we're taking up her home."

"Tsk..."

"…" **neither of them seem happy about the idea…**

"I-it's really alright Morgan… they don't have to come if they don't want." I try to protest.

"Nope Captain's orders; take them with you." He grins wide revealing every tooth in his mouth. They both walk passed me leaving the comfort of my home before I can even protest anymore.

"But-"

"Hey woman, hurry up otherwise I'll bite you." I scurry after them after hearing the threatening tone in Eduardo's voice.

The town is as loud as usual as we walk around. I hear a few people make comments about the two wolves with me but let them be. Eduardo and Nathan stay close by if not right next to me as I take care of buying what I need. There's a flower shop near by and I remember how plain the table in the kitchen looked. **Bāchan's favorite flowers would look great on the table. It would certainly brighten up the room. **

The wild flowers cost about two silver coins in order for me to buy them. Thinking again I try to make sure I got everything. Yet one other thing comes to my mind.

**The butcher shop should be around here somewhere near by. Let's see…**

"Say what kind of meat do you guys usually hunt for?" I ask either one who would answer.

"What kind of question is that?" Nathan looks up at me.

"Well Thomas has been eating chicken and nothing else I figured I could try to give him something other than that. Seeing as how he can't actually go hunting with you guys." There's a silence for a long time before finally

"Mainly there's deer, sometimes for a snack we'll get ahold of a rabbit." **Deer huh…**

As we continue to walk on, people stare at me with uneasy thoughts going through their mind. Even the thugs look at me oddly with these two by me. The people of Yamato don't really trust people who act like outsiders. They treated Bāchan the same way when I was younger. Shooting cold glares, talking behind her back; they treated her just the same as they do me. Eduardo and Nathan must have noticed I can feel them glance back between me and the other people as if trying to see what my reaction is. I try not to give the people the satisfaction of hurting my feelings. It was one thing I learned from Bāchan: even if what they say does hurt you in the end, never give then the satisfaction of letting them see your tears.

Before heading to the butcher shop, I stop by a glass figurine store to take a look. The statues and charms shine in the light and glitter. The clerk tries to sell me a thing or two but I save my money to restock on meat. At the butchers I try to be very specific, like always, as to what grade of meat I need. No animals were allowed so Nathan and Eduardo had to wait outside but glancing back I noticed the two watching through the open door and listening intently to my conversation with the butcher. With the meat ready to go I pay the money needed and head out. My hands are pretty full now with all that I've bought and I decide it's enough.

"Stop being stubborn and hand over something to us already will you?" Eduardo noticed that I was struggling.

"N-no it's fine really."

"Hey." I look over at Nathan "In case you forgot Cap told us to help you out. So hand it over." Out numbered and out matched I hand the wrapped meat over to Eduardo who holds it by the string keeping the packaging on; and Nathan takes the bag I placed my produce in while I hold onto what's left.

"Thank you." Although neither of them could answer with something in their mouth.

"You're quite welcome." **Oh no…not him!** Toma grabs me from behind, making his unwanted appearance, "To me that is. So again we meet at the hands of fate."

"Some would think that you were stalking me…" I say flatly.

"Ouch now that hurts…but it's that attitude that makes you so alluring."

"From you that's an insult." I pull out of his grip and head to the two wolves waiting for me.

"Now what's this? Two new pets you have…I didn't know you liked dogs."

"Don't insult them like that; they're wolves." I hear them growl in agreement, "and they're guests at my home right now while one of their pack mates recovers."

"Guests huh…you make it sound as if they have feelings. You're even more cute when you say things with such a naïve tone." ** Who's naïve?**

"Who is this guy?" Eduardo asks annoyed,

"A guy who thinks I'm flirting with him and won't piss off." I answer quietly.

"Doesn't seem like he can take a hint." Nathan states.

"That's because every girl in the village swoons over this guy when they see him; he's got his own fan club and everything."

"You're kidding right?" he asks in disbelief,

"No, unfortunately I'm not."

"Say Reisaki?" Toma pulls my arm interrupting my conversation and pulls me close, "How about you and I go somewhere we can be alone; I'll let you touch me anywhere you want." the last part sends chills up and down my spine.

"No thank you! Get off me you creeper; I have no intention of doing anything with you! Now let go!" I try pushing him away but he's to strong. He laughs slightly.

"You know Reisaki it's cute when you reject me like this but it's starting to ware off now. Just give into your feelings already."

"What feelings?! You're as blind as a bat if you think I can feel anything for you!" suddenly there's a massive growl followed by Toma letting go of me screaming his head off. Nathan jerks his leg round until Toma falls to the ground. Then Eduardo trots over near his head and raises his leg before peeing all over Toma. Once the two are done they come and sit next to me as if nothing had happened. Everyone starts laughing as Toma tries to get himself clean writhing on the ground in agony.

"There, that's better." Eduardo says smugly

"Now he smells as bad as he looks…" Nathan says in agreement. Even I have to hide my smile as I try not to laugh. The two pick up the items they set down and start walking away with me.

"pffaahahahahahah!"

"Jeeze calm down would you it wasn't that funny." They try to get me to stop laughing as we enter the house again.

"I'm sorry I can't help it…it was just so…pfft." I try to hold back another giggle as I set the basket on the table. They set their items on the floor next to the table, "Thanks for the help." Neither of them answer but I could have sworn that I saw a smirk or small smile on both of their faces as they head back to their resting places. I check Thomas and decide its ok to take the stitches out. While taking care of that I tell about what happened in the village and why I was laughing so hard. The other laughed too when I told what Eduardo and Nathan said after the fact.

"Yeah that sounds like them." Morgan booms.

"The guy was a real pig. What else were we supposed to do?" Eduardo sounded pleased with the reaction. After taking the final stitch out I take a better look at the healing wound,

"Yeah not bad at all. You should be able to walk around in a couple of days Thomas."

"Alright!" the door slides open with a slam making me turn in shock. With no time to react I receive a slap to the face. "Miss Reisaki!" picking myself up I look to see a furious Yūhi staring down at me.

"What the hell did you think you were doing today?!" her hand grabs a fist full of my hair pulling me up and slapping me across the face again. "Do you even have any idea what the others said today after you left?!"

"He deserved it, that pervert!"

"Shut up! Baka! Baka…just die you stupid little… piece of…!" she doesn't even finish her sentence before she flings me into the wall next to Thomas. "They call you a wild child, a girl of the forest, a freak because you bring them with you!" she points to Thomas, "Can't you understand how embarrassing it is for me to be put in such a position?! You should never have been put in her care! That old bag filled your head with such nonsense!"

"…unbelievable" I laugh ignoring the insults made about Bāchan, "You still have this uncanny ability to make any situation about you…even when you have nothing to do with it." I stagger picking myself up. "You're really something aren't ya?" I laugh,

"This is not something to laugh about!" again she slaps me much harder then the last couple of times. I have to wipe away a trail of blood from the corner of my mouth. Her footsteps pound on the floor as she comes for me again until something stands in her way. My eyes widen at Eduardo and Nathan both standing in front of me snarling and growling at her. Morgan, Russell and Christopher slowly approach her from the other side of the room giving the same treatment to her. Even Thomas with his ears back sits on the pillow ready to attack too.

"You know I knew there were people with rotten personalities out there but she's the worst I've seen." Christopher says.

"Hey Cap can we go for her throat?" Eduardo asks

"Or do we make it slow and painful…?" Nathan gives a different option.

"I'm thinking on it."

"Wait please!" they all turn to me. "Don't hurt her…out of the respect that…she's my mother."

"Your mother?!" Morgan doesn't seem to know how to take it.

"You little wretch…" my attention goes back to Yūhi, "Don't you dare call me that again. Someone as filthy as you deserves to be alone for the rest of their life! You should never have been born; you should never have been born! I hated you ever since you we born! You little freak don't ever show your face to me again!" the others had enough of her shouting; hey chased her out of the house only to get her to go away. Left in a daze I continue to sit in the same spot. Something wet touches my cheek and it turns out to be Thomas' nose. **He must have moved when I wasn't watching.**

Looking around the others are have returned too; they all stare at me concerned. I smile wiping a stray tear.

"I always knew that's what she thought of me. She never did want a child; I was just some accident that happened to her. Yūhi was always going around to every bottom feeder she could find and make it a one night stand. Honestly I don't think she was hugged enough as a child." I comb my hair out of my face with my fingers and look over at Thomas, "I'll keep taking but you need to stay off that leg ok?" keeping his hind leg up he trots back over to the pillow and drags it over next to me before sitting down and resting his head on my leg. "That's the first time I've heard her say what was really on her mind at least to my face. She always had the look in her eye like: you have to prove yourself in order to be my real child…or something like that. When I was three months old she took me up here and gave me over to her mother. Bāchan was probably reluctant at first but she put up with me. Even the memories I remember from when I was little she seemed distant at first. Yet for some reason she didn't stay that way. She started taking me with her into the forest to help animals, she showed me what herbs were good or not she even took me with her to the village. She was treated the same as I was, thought of as some sort of outcast. I remember this one time I was playing with this girl we were about the same age, and her mom came over and took her away saying: stay away from that girl she lives with the crazy old hag. She's different from us; she's not normal." Looking up I look through the window at the stary sky. "But…I didn't need their approval so long as I had Bāchan I wasn't alone… I didn't need to be accepted by them. we tried to be nice to them but even so they still wouldn't accept us no matter what happened. Bāchan even helped cure a little girl from a sickness that would have killed her and still we weren't accepted. But it was ok because we had something else that kept us from loneliness: the forest. The animals, I don't know if she could understand them the way I can understand you all but she had her own way of talking with them. They would come to her, trust her like it was second nature. We also…had each other. She and I would stay up late and do all sorts of things together. I remember her telling me so many different legends and myths about here. I even remember her telling me about the Yamato Legend, that one was my favorite when I was little."

"What was that one about?" Christopher asks kindly as they each begin to lay down.

"Hmm well I won't be able to tell it the same way she did; Bāchan had a way with story telling. I don't think I'll be that good and I probably won't be able to remember some of the names of the people too."

"Oh shut up and tell the story already." It sounded cold but Eduardo has a smirk on his face right now.

"Well… it takes place over one hundred years ago…" as I told the story in the back of my mind I couldn't help but think that I wanted these guys to stay. I was able to open up to them so easily…that if they leave again I wondered if I would feel alone again.


	3. Chapter 3

Machi o kayotte shinrin no dai abare Kemono chōkyōshi (The forest's rampage through the town; the beast tamer)

"Although nothing was ever proven about if they really died or not… but that's the story. The Sirius was last heard about heading to the island of Nakayama. After that no one really knows." I just finished telling the Yamato Legend to the wolves that were staying in my home for the week. They had listened intently and asked an occasional question here and there. Although from what it seemed like with their reactions they somehow knew this story or heard it from somewhere.

"That's quite a story." Christopher says smiling.

"You certainly can spin a tale Reisaki." Morgan comments from the comfort of my lap opposite of Thomas.

"Well it was a story Bāchan told me; all I was doing was copying what she told me. I mean I forgot all of the crew members names and I even slipped on a few parts where shouldn't have said anything at all."

"Let me guess…she used to call you little neko right?" **darn it Eduardo isn't going to let me live that one down is he?**

"Eduardo don't tease her…"

"Although you guys seem to act like you know this story already…" their ears twitch as if indicating that I was right.

"What the heck would give you that idea?"

"It's just a guess Nathan; I don't really mean that you do." **If that doesn't indicate they know something I don't know what does.**

"Now can I ask you guys a question?"

"I suppose…go ahead, shoot." I look the alpha male in the eyes,

"You guys aren't normal wolves are you?"

"What?" they all ask in unison.

"Well, no offense, but you lot don't act like the average wolf I've met ever. Were you all raise in captivity or something?" it's silent for a few minutes before Christopher speaks up,

"What would give you that idea, Reisaki?"

"W-well you guys act human in some instances. For one all of you show more personality than the average wild wolf; I mean they're usually loners they even act like that in their packs towards each other. Another thing you all treat each other equally not anything like as if you were in a pack with ranks. I mean you say Morgan is the alpha and you say Thomas is the underling in the group but still you guys don't act like that's not the case. Then there's the thing Nathan and Eduardo pulled in town with Toma…I mean it was funny and all but no normal wolf would have come up with that kind of idea. Any your names too, they're all human names." I had a plausible argument and the evidence to back it up; they couldn't seem to come up with any response, "And then now you all acted as though you knew the Yamato Legend just now."

"Well I can see how you would think that…" I look over at Morgan, "But really it's as you said, we were raised in captivity and released back into the wild. We probably picked up something here and there when we were there."

"I see and where is there exactly?" I smirk,

"Well…" **I knew it I got him!** "There's a reserve on the other side of the island right? When we were release we traveled over to this side."** Darn it I thought I had them…**

"Why the sudden interest anyway Reisaki?" Christopher laughs as he asks most likely seeing my face.

"Oh it's not all of a sudden Chris. I've been wondering this ever since I came across Thomas in the woods. I thought he was the only one at first then you all showed up; I've been curious ever since."

"Don't you humans have a saying: mind your own business?" Eduardo gives me a smug grin.

"Ok fine…keep your secrets. I won't ask any more." My hand waves in a manner stating that I don't really care at all. "But I know you guys are hiding something." I sing song.

"Sorry Reisaki it's not that we don't want to tell you…" I look at Christopher pleading,

"So you'll tell me?"

"Well…" he diverts his eyes playfully before looking back at me with a smile, "Sorry I'm afraid I can't."

"You bully don't lead me on like that and not tell me…"

"Hey she's pouting."

"Looks like we really hurt her feelings."

"Keep talking Russell and Nathan…" I shoot an impish glare at them. **It's not just me…they seem to have open up too. It's weird but…in a good way. I wonder if they want to leave or if they want to stay. No…they aren't house pets. Even if they were raise in captivity and are familiar with humans… I shouldn't get so attached to them…when Thomas gets better. They'll leave. It will just be me and the forest again…but that's how it's been for the past three years ever since Bāchan passed on…so why does my heart hurt like this thinking about it?**

"Hey what's with you all of a sudden?"

"What?" I answer Nathan, snapping out of my thought process,

"You went quiet."

"Oh I guess I'm just tired. Getting slapped around like that must have taken more out of me than I thought." A smile helps to put on a front. I move Morgan off my lap and Thomas raises his head allowing me to stand. "I'm going to bed. Night." There's no answer as I leave the room.

Laying in my bed I can't seem to go to sleep so many things happened. Every time I close my eyes I see my mother Yūhi ready to attack my again. I close my eyes for the thousandth time and fifteen minutes later it happens again. Feeling defeated I sit up and look at the picture of Bāchan. It seems to put my mind at ease just a bit more before I try sleeping again. There's some sort of clicking sound on the wooden floor. My doors open and the dim light reveals a wolf shadow in the room.

"Thomas? What's the matter you really shouldn't be-"

"Can I sleep with you?"

"What?"

"…Just for tonight. I want to see what it's like…please?" it seemed cute to me to have him ask me something as if he was a little kid.

"Sure. I don't mind." I pick him up and help him on the bed when I hear other wolf paws on the floor.

"No fair…if Thomas gets to sleep on the bed I want to as well." Russell states.

"I agree." Eduardo says, "He shouldn't get special treatment just because he's injured." I laugh,

"You got enough room for all of us?" Morgan trots over and jumps onto the bed before I can even answer. Getting back under the covers I pat the bed,

"Come on there's enough room for every one." With Thomas taking up my left side and Morgan at my feet under Thomas, Eduardo lays down above my head, Christopher rests close to my face, Nathan Lays over my legs and Russell by my right side. Thomas moves round a bit getting under the covers, resting his head on my stomach, "You going to be ok under there?"

"Yeah, it's nice and warm." It was like he said what was all on their mind they moved a little closer before falling asleep, having a feeling of peace I too soon fall asleep.

…

I stir slightly from the movement in the bed. **Arms…why do I feel like there are arms around me…? So many of them… 1…2…6… what? Why so many?** My eyes open slightly I see a fuzzy shadow of something but make nothing of it and fall back asleep.

…

The late morning sun wakes me and when I open my eyes I see Christopher resting his head on the pillow still asleep. Sitting up I see the others and find Thomas' behind peeking out from under the covers with his tail twitching back and forth. I have to cover my mouth so not to laugh at the puppy like sight. Thinking about my dream last night I try to figure out what it means for a minute before I see Nathan rouse from his sleep. He stretches yawning so big that you could fit a watermelon in his mouth.

"Morning sleepy head." I chime.

"Oh hey, how long have you been up?"

"I just got up." soon the others start to stir from their sleep as well. Eduardo lazily lays his head on my shoulder yawning "Well hello."

"mh-hm…"

"Did you sleep well Reisaki?" Christopher sits up like a dignified wolf but keeps it friendly.

"Yeah I did…although…" I look over at Thomas still under the covers, "I think he enjoyed it the most."

"Unbelievable…" Nathan says before swatting the mound with a paw. "Hey, wake up already." Thomas finally stirs before he starts struggling with getting the covers off him. He somehow manages to get himself tangled up and falls on his side. "Only you Thomas…"

"Come on leave him be." Christopher laughs. I help the wolf out from under the covers and his fur is completely wild from his tousle with the sheets.

"Ow…hey who hit me?"

"You wouldn't wake up so gave you some help." **Nathan sure doesn't mind admitting what he does… **

I take a moment to stretch before pulling the covers off myself.

"Off the bed please; I have to wash the sheet today."

"What, just because we slept on them?"

"No Russell; I always wash the sheets this day. By the way Thomas let me take a look at your leg real quick." Checking the scar it seems pretty good. "You should walk on it now but nothing stressful you still need to take it easy.

"Alright; I can walk again!" he jumps down and start using it, "It feels kind of stiff."

"It will probably feel like that for the next couple of days then after that you should be all set." I explain pulling the sheets off the bed and heading to a different part of the house.

**That was a strange dream…what was that anyway? There were six pairs of arms…and…and then…wait why would there be someone in my room anyway? It was just all of them so…was I just having a vivid dream? It sure felt real. I thought I saw someone sleeping next to me… but… oh well, I think I might just be thinking about it too much. But in a couple of days they'll leave…it was nice having them around. What is this feeling in my chest? It hurts…I don't want them to leave. I can't keep them though… they're wild animals no matter how much they act like something else. **

A big sigh escapes me as I let the sheets sit in the hot water.

**I refuse to go back to that village.**

I needed some advise so leaving the sheets to soak in the water I sneak out and head for a clearing not too far away. There's a grave with a tomb stone and wild flowers growing on the top of the dirt. Bāchan's grave was always a place I could go to in order to think things through. I wasn't entirely sure what I should do with the pack that was currently staying in my home... but to be quite honest I didn't want them to leave. With them around it felt like I was back with Bāchan. The void in my heart was gone… but now that Thomas' leg is better they'll leave and I'll be all alone again. It will be just as painful as when she passed away. I'll wake up thinking everything was just a dream and then come to realize that their being gone wasn't a dream and I'll finally see that I really am alone. Saying those things yesterday about having the forest it was only half true. I did have the forest and I did care for the animals but when they visit or I help them…they only fill the void temporarily. Eventually I had to let them go too. The same thing will happen again but it will only hurt more than what it has been this whole time.

"Bāchan…I need some help. Please what do I do?" my head rests on my knees as I listen to the birds chirping and the rustling of the bushes as the wind picks up every now and again.

"Reisaki." Morgan stands next to me with a serious look on his face.

"What is it?"

"Are you burning something out here?" I shake my head, "We can smell smoke."

"Smoke…?" the others trot up behind him. I look at the sky and locate black clouds churning in the sky. " The forest!" without thinking my legs carry me into the forest thinking only of the animals.

"Hey hold on!" one of them yells out after me but I don't listen. Animals run in every direction trying to get away from the flames. As I continue into the deeper parts the smoke gets thicker and becomes even hotter. Soon the forest changes to a bright orange. I find Fuzzy Claw trying to help her mother out from under a fallen tree. I try helping pulling on the tree trying to get it to budge but I'm not strong enough. Fuzzy Claw tries to help but only being a cub she can't do much either. Suddenly the tree becomes lighter and lifts up. Looking around Russell, Christopher and Nathan are helping to lift the tree up by getting underneath it. The others dig around Fuzzy Claws mother giving her room to claw her way out. By the time we finish with that task the smoke starts to become too much. Coughing isn't helping any at all. Looking around I try to see if there are any other animals that need help but don't get the chance; flames roar over the trees bringing the temperature even higher than what they were before.

"It's too much! Riesaki we have to get out of here!" ** This fire is out of control! How did it even start?**

The smoke is so thick I can't even see anything. Suddenly I become very dizzy from the smoke and my knees give out on me. **I can't breath…the smoke…**

"Reisaki, grab hold of me!" Eduardo comes close allowing me to grab a fist full of his fur, he and the others lead the way out of the forest and back to my home. With some clean air to breath I cough out the smoke that's left in my lungs. Yet with the flames making their way closer to my home there's no way I can relax. Other animals make their way inside my home hoping to seek refuge from the fire when thunder suddenly rumbles from above. A few rain droplets hit my forehead before the downpour happens. With the help of the rain the fire soon dies down and disappears all together. The animals all come out timidly looking at the remaining smoke flowing from the forest.

"Miss Reisaki, are you ok?"

"I think so Thomas…"

"You damn idiot; what the hell were you thinking?" **Eduardo…** "You can't just jump into a situation like that. What would have happened if we weren't around to help you?" he sounds calm but he's clearly angry.

"But I couldn't just…I mean…"

"He's right Reisaki you could have gotten seriously hurt!" now Christopher too. They're all looking at me like they were scared or worried about me.

"I…I'm sorry…" my body starts to shake, "But…this forest it's not just your home; it's mine too…! I couldn't just sit by and watch it burn or the animals…"

"Reisaki…" the other animals suddenly come out of their hiding places and stare at what's left the forest.

"Our home…"

"Why?"

"It's ruined." They all start murmuring among themselves. Soon the murmurs and whines turn to growls as one speaks up,

"It was the humans in the village!"

"They did this!"** what?** "They've been trying to trap us in their contraptions now they try to burn our home!" others start to get in an uproar in agreement.

"I saw him! The one who did this! He was placing rope like things all over the ground before he lit them!"

"Get him! Get them all!"

"No wait this won't solve anything!" they don't listen to me as the charge for the near by village. Now what?

"No what just happened? This is really bad…they'll go after everyone in the village just to find that one person who did this." Someone nudges my leg and it turns out to be Morgan.

"You want them to stop?"

"Well yes but…"

"Then you stay here and leave it to us."

"What?" before I can even say anything else all of them including Thomas race off after the pack of angry animals. **Oh no what do I do now? This is all happening so fast but I don't want any of them to get hurt. I can't…**

"I can't just sit here!" with out thinking I raced down the path I would take to the village. Already I can hear the cries of the villages and the beasts attacking them. The village is in total chaos when I enter it. Places are in shambles while animals chase people around trying to hurt them. Other humans have weapons trying to defend their families or themselves from other animals that attack. I even see Fuzzy Claw and her mother attack a few others. "No stop!" I stand in their way from attacking the child and her mother. "They haven't done anything! Please you have to stop this; if you continue this you won't be any different than the people who burned the forest!" Fuzzy Claw's mother seems as though she's listening then suddenly she lets off a roar in pain as a gun shot pierces her shoulder. "No stop!" I shout at the person reloading their gun. "Please stop!" A stag impales the man with his antlers dragging him on the ground and stomping him with his hooves. Blood stains it's antlers as it rears back ready to attack another innocent passerby. Looking in the chaos I find Christopher trying to protect someone that looks rather familiar from a mountain lion.

"Yūhi…!" my body moves with a mind of it's own as the mountain lion pounces to attack them. It was more to protect Christopher rather than my own mother but the only thing the loin gouges is my shoulder. Seeing what it's done the loin sets his ears down and places his tail between his legs. It's not enough to kill me but it still hurts.

"Reisaki!" Christopher tries to make sure I'm fine, "Why did you do that?! Your arm is-"

"I have to stop this…"

"What?"

"They'll listen to me if I could just get their attention."

"You need to go back; Captain said we will handle this."

"And what if you all get hurt?!" I find myself screaming, "I can't sit here and not do something; if you all get hurt…I wouldn't know what to do…"

"Reisaki…"

"You may just be wolves but there's something special about all of you…you're all the first actual friends I've had before ever. I don't want to see anything happen to you."

"You…you had something to do with this didn't you?!" I look at Yūhi. "You really are a wild child aren't you?!" **I can deal with her later…**

"How are you going to get their attention?" I think for a moment…

"Where are the others?"

"Handling other situations."

"Go find them quickly and tell them to meet me other there." I point to a fountain that I can stand at. With out any protest Christopher races off to find the others. As I try to head for the fountain Yūhi grabs hold of my arm.

"You little wretch, this is why you should have come back to the village! Look at the trouble you've caused everyone, that you caused me! Everyone will die because of you!" I slap her across her face shutting her loud mouth.

"Blame me if you want…but I had no hand in causing this mess; someone else did. I only plan to stop it." her words didn't even hurt me to be quite honest and I really didn't care if she other the others in the village accepted me all I wanted to do was what Bāchan would have done: help the village and save as many as she could. The others soon return,

"I don't believe it…why didn't you listen to me? Look at your arm…"

"It's fine Morgan; this is just a scratch. I can take care of it later."

"So what's your plan exactly now that you have us all here?" Russell asks.

"I need for you to howl." The look at me questionably, "I mean it; howl as loud as you can together! It should get their attention." Together they follow my instructions howling as loud as they could as if calling the moon itself to rise into the sky. Their howls carry on for quite some distance stopping all the animals and villagers in their tracks. Each of them look over here forgetting what they were doing. By the time the echo of the howls disappears the only thing that can be heard is the sound of the down pour. I stand on the fountain so they can all see me.

"Please all of you stop this. This is insane. All of the animals please listen to me…I know you're angry that the forest, your home was burned down, but you shouldn't bring your wrath down on all of the villagers for one person who caused the event to happen. I understand that you're angry. All you are doing though is hurting yourselves and innocent. You're no better than the person who caused this. You all need to go back to the forest now…I'm sure there are other parts that were spared from the fire that you could all go to. eventually the forest will grow back so please stop this…" there's a few moments before the animals one by one start to head back to the forest. "Every one else…I'm sorry this happened." It's quiet for a few moments before someone speaks,

"You're sorry? That's all you have to say?!" Yūhi shouts. "You're the one that told them to come after us aren't you?!"

"Yeah…that's right. You're that strange girl that always hangs around in the forest. You and that old woman used always stay up there!"

"You're a wild child aren't you? What did we do to you that gave you the right to do this to us?"

"My child got hurt because of you!"

"Many of our shops were destroyed because you sent them after us!"

"Why did you do this?!"

Suddenly the villagers start gathering around me shouting angrily at me.

"N-no it wasn't me!"

"Liar! You caused this didn't you?!"

"No I didn't. I only wanted to stop them; stop it so that no one got hurt!" I plead with them to listen. They get closer and closer almost within grabbing distance of me before Thomas and the others surround me and get the villagers to back of. "I…I'm sorry!" before anything else can happen I run for the trail that leads back to my home.

…

As I finish tending to my arm the others stay close to me. I start remembering what I told Christopher as I make sure the bandage is secure. A sigh echoes slightly as I lean against the wall. **Well this has certainly been a fun day… first the forest catches fire, then the animals go after the villagers and now they think I had something to do with it all…**

Christopher lays his front paws along with his head on my lap resting comfortably. The others soon follow suit coming near me. Feeling hot I brush my hair to one side over my shoulder to cool down. Relaxing my mind and muscles I let my mind wander for the time being at least until something crosses my mind.

"Hey Thomas your leg, let me take a look real quick ok."

"My leg is fine Miss Reisaki… you should relax for now."

"But you really weren't supposed to be doing anything stressful so I just-"

"Reisaki…" I look a Christopher, "You can't tell that we're more worried about you than ourselves? If you really want to help us then please stay still for a while and rest." His sweet tone makes me forget about Thomas' leg and slightly blush at the same time. "Just as you said, you are our friend too. We don't want to see anything happen to you either…"

"Unfortunately he's right so sit there and shut up already…" Eduardo rests his head on my shoulder as he did this morning; his breath leaves a warm spot on my neck and as I reach for him to stroke the top of his head he allows me to pet him like a dog. "…Don't get too used to that…I'm a wolf not a house mutt." He says it sternly but I catch the indirect stare and slight smirk on his face. Resting my head against the wall I start to drift off into a nice sleep.

"Reisaki. There's a part of that legend that I think even your grand mother didn't know about…concerning the other person who was charmed by the spell cast on the Sirius crew." Morgan says as I begin to drift into unconsciousness, "The person would be able to talk to animals and would be the only person who could understand the Sirius crew; when I say understand I mean it in more ways than one…they had each other but at the same time they wouldn't really have any contact with others don't you think?"

"Mm…" is all I'm able to indicate that I'm still awake.

"The person would be able to understand that loneliness and pain because they experienced it as well… but also that person would become something else besides their friend…" before he can finish his explanation I fall asleep.

When I open my eyes the soft glow of the moon dimly lights the room. The room is empty making me think that they probably went out to hunt for something to eat. Still groggy, I stand and start to take care of the mess I made cleaning the gash on my shoulder. Looking at the clock instead of outside it reads 11. I had been asleep for a while and yet I still feel pretty tired. One thing is for sure after the events of today I won't be able to go back to the village for quite some time. Oh well… there's some sort of sound from outside like something is moved out of place or a couple things bang into each other. I stop what I'm doing to listen for a minute yet there's no other sound to indicate what I head was real or not. Nothing happens so I go back to what I was doing before. Turning the faucet on I allow the sink to fill up. Waking away from it I take out a match and light an incense to fill the room with the fragrance of cinnamon and cherries. The water shuts off by itself which wakes me up from my half sleep daze. I turn my attention to the room. Someone stands in the shadows yet their eyes seem familiar. I try running out the open door but they grab hold of me and pull me close. Struggling turns out to be pointless as they keep me in their grasp.

"Stop struggling Reisaki it's only me…"

"Toma?! What are you doing here?" he doesn't answer me at all with words but I feel my shirt being lifted up. "What are you doing?!" I try getting out of his grasp once again but he continues to keep a tight grip on me.

"You cause a lot of trouble in the village today; you very bad aren't you?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I thought I liked you before…but that was just the icing on the cake. You're really something you know."

"Let go of me you creeper…!"

"Oh come on now stop playing already. You've got my attention."

"I'm not playing! Let go of me!" he jerks me around so I'm looking him in the eyes,

"You know Reisaki, every one is talking about exiling you from the village…you wouldn't even be able to make your occasional visits like you always do."

"T-that's fine with me; the forest is all I need. I don't need their approval."

"You say that now but what about later? What about when that does happen…?"

"What?"

"You'll be alone won't you? You won't have any one to talk to. I mean the animals can only give you so much company…a girl has certain needs right?" **I don't like this… where is he going with all this?**

"What are you getting at?"

"You don't have to choose that life Reisaki. I can help you…"

"You help me…?"

"Yes I can make it so that they all accept you. You just have to do one thing for me." he tries lifting my shirt even more exposing my stomach to the cool air. "All I ask is that you be mine."

"No!" my hand makes contact with his face but he still doesn't let go.

"It's cute when you reject me like that…but tonight I'm not going to let you go…I'll make you see just how much you are in love with me." **he…he's insane!**

He grabs hold of my face and forces me to look at him as he tries to force a kiss to happen. The second I feel his lips touch mine I bite as hard as I can. He cringes away letting go of me. Sliding the door closed behind me I race into the forest hoping to find something in the burned ruins that will hide me from him. As my feet crunch in the ashes so does his. With nowhere to hide he's able to keep up with me easily. A hand grabs hold of my arm and pulls me back. "Haha! I love it when you put up fight Reisaki it makes me want you even more!"

"Let go; let me go!" he pushes me to the ground before he pins me down, unable to move. "Stop it! You're hurting me!" by now tears filled with fear begin to trail down my face.

"Oh don't worry I'm not going to hurt you much Reisaki. I'll just leave a mark here and there…" **he's really going to force me! I don't want this! Someone please, anyone HELP!**

He tugs my shirt up and starts to go for my skin when I stop struggling at what I see behind me. **Is…is that…?**

"Hey what's with you? You get tired of putting up a fight?" There's a snarl from behind him making him jolt upright and releasing me. Morgan, fur standing on end, hackles raise and clearly pissed slowly moves in between me and Toma. The others soon gather around me protecting me from any further harm.

"You alright Reisaki?" I hear an angry Morgan ask.

"Yes…"

"What did he do?" Nathan is the second to say something coldly,

"N-nothing…"

"Don't lie if he did Reisaki…" **wow I don't think I've seen Christopher so angry before…**

"He tried to force me but he didn't get the chance…" their attention goes back to Toma.

"H-hey! Call off your dogs or what ever!"

"No…! I should let them tare you apart for what you tried to do… do you even realize how traumatizing something like that can be fore a girl when you do something like that!"

"What are you talking about? I'm offering you a way to be accepted by the village and you're doing this?"

"I don't need your kind of help you pervert! Your fan girls may do that for you but I have more dignity and respect for myself than that. …and you…you don't even respect me as a woman. You just see me as a way to relieve you own tension; I'm not like that!" in reaction to my anger the wolves begin to corner him like prey growling low. "Just stay away from me! I don't need you and I don't need the village! For all I care you can be wolf chow…" they take it as a signal they can attack; I look away as I hear the attack go on. Toma screams in agony as they continue to dig their teeth into his flesh. I didn't care what happened after this, even if he was dead after this mauling. I plan on leaving this area soon anyway. With this part of the forest the way it is now there was no way I could sustain myself food wise. Bāchan had another place on the other side of the forest closer to another village and the cave of moonstones that she and I got out gems from for trading was more over that way too… it would all work out. Soon the mauling stops and I look over at the mangled body with the wolves trotting away from it. Only when I saw Toma move slightly was I aware that he was still alive... something that slightly relieves me a bit. I kneel down to hug Thomas who's the first to reach me and Christopher nestles against my cheek as I stroke his fur. If they hadn't come along Toma would have gotten farther than he did.

"We can't leave you alone for a second can we?" Christopher sounds relieved.

"Sorry." I laugh slightly, "I didn't think he would try something like that though."

"Well we weren't about to let him have his way right in front of us." Eduardo says, "We can't let anyone hurt you."

"What?"

"You fell asleep before I could finish explaining things Reisaki." Morgan gets my attention,

"Explain what?"

"Let's head back first then we'll talk."

(Back at the house)

"So you remember what I said about the Legend and about how there was more to it than what your grand mother told you right."

"Yes before I fell asleep you were saying something about how there was more to the person who was charmed along with the Sirius crew…"

"Yes that's right." Morgan for some strange reason finds it more comfortable to lay on my lap completely as he tells me this story even though it just so happens that he's the heaviest out of everyone…not that he's chubby personally I think it has to do with muscle mass."

"So did you know the crew; is that how you-" a yawn escapes me interrupting my question. "Sorry…"

"Haha! Well it has been an eventful day. Tell you what how about we pick this conversation up to morrow." That sounds good to me and I don't argue at all. After he lets me up they follow me into my room.

"You guys don't have to stay with me if you don't want to."

"What you don't want us to be with you?"

"No that's not it Nathan! It's just well…I mean…"

"Look if you don't have any problem with it the stop yapping about it." just like the night before they all take their pace around me. It comforts me that they all want to stay by me so much. It's so nice that I even snuggle up closer to Christopher; the others in response move closer closing the distance between us. It doesn't take me long to fall asleep.

…

**huh…what's going on? Am I dreaming again. Why do I feel arms around me again? Someone is holding my hand over my head…and I'm holding it back… another one is draped across my chest to my shoulder. Someone is holding onto my waist under the sheets there's someone on my other side wrapping their arm around my waist…what is this? Someone else is on my other side holding on to my left arm and someone else is laying on my feet. What is going on…?** I open my eyes and see someone with whitish black hair is sleeping next to me with his arm wrapped around me. I realize he's quite handsome and blush slightly.

**Wow who is this guy? He's really cute… wait a sec. Why is there some black guy in my bed…and why is he naked?! **

"Uh…um…" I look up at my hand another hot guy with an eye patch is curled up above me with his hand caressing my hand and arm. "EEE…"

**Wait a sec, so the other hands and arms I've been dreaming about are real! **

The first one begins to stir from his sleep; he opens his eyes and they turn out to be gorgeous and familiar; although at the moment I'm more terrified of the unknown people in my bed. He looks at me and smiles kindly,

"Good morning Reisaki." ** Wait a second that voice…**

"C-Christopher…?"

"Yes something wrong?"

"Um…why are you-" the male above me suddenly looms over me,

"Stop hoggin' her Doc." **Wait was that Eduardo?**

"I'm not hogging her at all." The person who sounds like Eduardo moves closer to me,

"Good morning Mistress." His hand caresses my cheek,

"M-mistress?!" I shout.

"Hey quit shouting will you." **Ok why did that sound like Nathan?** Every time I look at another one of these strangers they turn out to be a hot guy. I have no idea what is going on. His arms suddenly go around my waist as I sit up not sure what to do.

"You sleep ok?"

"Uh…"

"Hm, what's wrong with you?" suddenly someone else shoves the Nathan sound alike in the face,

"Hey get off already it's my turn to say hello to her."

"R…Russ-" he wraps his arm around my shoulders and pulls me close, "Wah?!"

"Good morning Master."

"You realize she's a girl right?" says the Eduardo sound alike.

"Shut up I know; but master makes her sound cooler."

"Not even up five minutes and you guys are already bickering?" an older male sits up by my feet and looks at me. **That sounded like Morgan…** "Morning Reisaki, you look like you slept well." He then lunges at me flinging his arms around my neck stretching his body completely and grins up at me just like the wolf I know, "You look cut with that blush on your face." The covers start moving before a head pops out from under the covers and the youngest looking male grabs hold of my hand and nestles against it.

"Good morning Miss Reisaki."

"Thomas…is that you?"

"Yeah. Who else would I be."

"But, but- you- and them and- how- I mean…" it was like it finally set in that there were six naked men in my bed treating me like I was their master or something and then I did something in a panic,

"Yeek!" my arms fling around hitting them all trying to get them away from me. Finally I get out of the bed and turn to face them with a seriously red face. "But you…you all supposed to be wolves!" I scream as the all rub their new bumps. "How is this possible!"

"Hahaha…ah that's right we never explained it to you did we." Morgan stands up

"Yeek!" I spin around keeping my back to them.

"Why are keeping your back to us?"

"Your naked…"

"But you've seen us naked plenty of times."

"Being wolves and being humans are two completely different things! Ugh….! Never mind just explain what's going on!"

"As you with Mistress." Morgan shrugs off my uproar. First off the Yamato Legend you know it's real. The Sirius Crew was transformed into animals all those years ago and given immortality to wait for their master to come along."

"Wait their master…? I thought they were pirates; they had no master."

"Well when I say master I don't mean per say they were slaves to the person who was also charmed; it was more that they would become extremely…loyal to that person." **Loyal…?**

"No offense but that doesn't really explain things to me." I say.

"You're the person who was charmed by that spell as well; you're ability to talk to animals is proof enough of it."

"I'm the person who is the master of the Sirius crew?"

"That's right."

"But how are you all human and what's going on?"  
"We've always been able to change into our original human forms ever since the day we were charmed. We just never really had a reason to change back…until we met you. I guess we wanted you to see our real selves." **Real selves? Wait so then that means…**

"Wait you mean you guys are the Sirius crew from the Yamato Legend?"

"Yes..." six diffent pairs of arms wrapped around my body in different locations making me tense "But you know what this means too though right Reisaki?"

"Wh-what?" someone's lips caress my ear,

"It means you are our master now...master of the Sirius crew."


	4. Chapter 4

**I wanted to type more for this chapter and make it as long as the others for this story but I need to think o it. So this chapter will most likely be split in to two parts. So here's the first part. Hope you enjoy. ^^**

Mūnsutōn no dōkutsu; Naka no machi no hi (the moonstone cave; a day in the town of Naka)

**So the wolves actually turn out to be full grown men…not only that but they're pirates…the Sirius Pirates. Oh yeah…sure nothing strange about this at all…**

"So…let me see if I have this strait in my head: the Yamato legend about the Sirius crew is real, …you guys are the Sirius pirates from said legend, …and now I'm your master…?" I say still trying to fit the pieces together in my head,

"Yes that pretty much sums it up." Christopher says smiling sweetly

"Ok…and you guys have been able to change into your original human forms from the very beginning but never did because…you never had a reason to?"

"Yes." Nathan answers flatly

"And you guys have been like this for over one hundred years not aging in the slightest bit from the time the spell was cast?"

"That's right miss Reisaki." Thomas smiles

"So where does that leave me?"

"You're immortal now too seeing as how you're our master."

"Please don't say that so lightly Morgan…you guys aren't things." **It makes me sound like I own a freakin harem of men or something! And this is uncomfortable…** "Hey how long do you plan on keeping your eyes shut anyway? What you don't want to look at us?"

"That's not the case…"

"Do you feel sick Reisaki?" Christopher places his hand on my forehead and his bare chest slightly touches my arm.

"It not that I'm sick Christopher…you guys are still in your human form and your naked." Peeking I can still see their all sitting around me while some of them are too close like this.

"What's the problem? You see us naked all the time."

"As I said before Eduardo, fur and skin are two completely different instances. This is just… nerve racking."

"I fail to see your point."

"What did you guys forget what it was like being human or something?"

"Somewhat." **And with it the meaning of public indecency and clothing…** there were so many things wrong with this picture right now I didn't even know where to start with telling them. Anyhow it wasn't like I could change anything about it seeing as how they were stuck with me and I was apart of it whether I wanted to be or not. To be honest I'm kind of glad they're staying. It would have been sad to see them leave. Finally I couldn't take them being around me like this in their human form anymore,

"Ok! Time to pack up!" I make my way passed a cute Thomas staring at me curiously as I head into another room where I store things. Soon I hear padded footsteps behind me.

**What the? They were able to walk on two legs before…wait why am I even complaining about this right now… they're not human right now so I don't have to get so flustered now. **

Looking around I find a leather satchel and an empty coin purse that I could use. Everything else was superficial I could find it in the forest.

"Hey where are you going Miss Reisaki?"

"The other side of the forest; there's not that much left here and there's no way I can go to the village anymore after the whole thing yesterday so I'm going to the other side. There's another little place like this that my Bāchan would use every now and again when she went to go collect moonstones." It's silent after I finish explaining making me look at the wolves now in front of me, "What?"

"Are you going to come back for us?" I turn away from them getting my point across,

"No I don't plan on coming back ever to this side of the forest…not ever again." There's a whine or two before I turn around smiling. "So I guess I'll just have to take you all with me." their tails wag at the statement. "You didn't seriously think I was going to leave you all here did you?"

"Well you were acting so serious…"

"For a second you made it seem like you would."

"Look this whole beast tamer thing may have thrown me fore a loop but come on you guys are my friends." I start thinking about what I need and only pack the essentials. Once that's finished I pin my hair up so not to get too hot and open the door to reveal the burnt forest; as I sigh escapes me I gesture for the pack to allow me and start walking. Gold Feather finds us as we make our way through the charred remains giving an update on the village. Apparently Toma went crawling back to the village and told the villagers I was possessed and needed to be put out of my misery along with my mangy mutts. To that Eduardo smugly replied,

"He was a pig who needed to be taught some manners; we just taught him the hard way." Gold Feather then flies off in search of something to hunt for.

By mid day we reach a part of the forest that looks as though it used to be very pretty but all that remains is a puddle from the once lovely lake.

"This was where we used to hang around." I turn to Russell, "Man if we were here when that fire hit, we wouldn't of survived." Something seemed off about the area as I looked around. The lower part of the ground seemed to be charred and burnt from the fire but the upper part seemed to still be untouched. But this place seemed to have pretty dark scortch marks. A bare chest suddenly enters my view and I look up into Nathan's face,

"Hey, what's with the serious face?"

"Yeek!" backing away I run into someone else,

"Oops, sorry miss Reisaki." I scurry away from the group of men and fall into the dried up lake. I'm sure right about now my face can't be any redder than what it is now. Christopher bends down in front of me as if he was still a wolf.

"Are you alright?"

"Dat! Please…don't come any…closer. I'm fine, don't worry about me, and please if you're going to change into humans WARN ME! God I think my heart nearly stopped."

"Would you prefer we stayed as wolves then Reisaki?"

"It's not a matter of…look you seemed to have forgotten that you can't just walk…" Christopher just smiles at me sweetly making me forget anything I was going to say, "N-never mind… just forget I said anything… why are you all humans right now anyway?"

"It got a reaction out of you the last time we did this and we couldn't get your attention a second ago. Hence why we're humans."

"Right attention…"

"What were you staring at anyway?"

"The scorch marks." I try to get up when Christopher picks me up suddenly making me feel as though I'm floating in the air. "Oh?!"

"You're not hurt are you Mistress?"

"N-no…" I look down at the ground while answering.

"Hey, NO FAIR!"

"…damn it doc…that was too smooth." he carries me out of the lake before he sets me down and pets my head,

"We don't want anything happening you mistress; try to be careful next time please."

**SHEESH…is it going to be like this with them from now on?! My god I thought my heart was going to give out on me… ok clear your head now Reisaki…**

After taking a deep breath I look back at the scorch marks,

"I think this may have been where the fire originated from."

"What makes you say that?"

"The scorch marks on the ground are different or rather they're darker than anywhere else. It looks…splotchy like some sort of liquid was poured in this area." Pointing to the area above I continue, "Another thing is the ground up above it; it's untouched where it's leading to the other side of the forest." Twigs suddenly snap on the upper ground. Wolves once again stand by me as I look around. Scary voices start becoming louder making me tense. From the sound of it there's more than one person. I can't make out words but it sounds as though one is the leader of the group and the others are the subordinates. I take a step back.

**What should I do? I can't hide anywhere this place is scorched to death. If I try going forward I'll most likely run into them. **

A wet nose touches my right hand,

"This way." Morgan and the others head passed the lake and behind some of the forest debris. Behind a formation of boulders there's an entrance to a cave that is hidden by other rocks. You would have to look very hard in order to find it. With the voices getting louder we waste no time hiding in the cave. Soon footsteps can be heard and we duck further into the cave.

"You said there was another village on the other side of the forest." From the sound of the voice that was scratchy, loud and all together scary, he was the one that I heard yelling at the others.

"Aye, Captain that's what I found out from the villagers in the town over."

"Then why haven't we gotten there yet?!"

"I-I'm not sure sir. I'm not familiar with this territory so I don't know where it is exactly only that it's on the east side of the island."

"Worthless piece of…" the Captain's words trail off for some reason. "What's this, footprints?" my body tenses realizing that our footprints lead to our very hideout.

"They lead to that cave over there Captain." Another subordinate says. Suddenly I find myself clinging to one of the fuzz balls in the very back almost as if it was second nature. Footsteps start heading our way. Suddenly in the opening a pair of feet stand in the way. They move slightly as if they're about to support the weight of someone kneeling down when, "Bart leave it. We need to concentrate on getting to the village." The man obeys leaving us safe in our hiding spot. We wait until the footsteps are no longer even in their earshot before Thomas pokes his head out of the opening. He steps out to make sure there's no one around.

"Coast is clear. It safe to come out Miss Reisaki." He pokes his head back in like a puppy wagging his tail before we the others exit. I release the wolf I was holding onto and it turns out to be Christopher.

"S-Sorry."

"That's alright. Did holding onto me help?"

"Y-yes…" He only smiles at me before placing his cold nose on my fore head and exits the hole himself. It takes a moment before my eyes readjust to the light and I take a look at the footprints in the ash covered ground.

"It sounded like pirates." Morgan says.

"But what would they want in the village over? I mean Naka is the better of the two." I say.

"It kinda sounded as though they were looking for something there, the way they made it sound." Nathan suggests

"Is there something there they couldn't find in the town over?" I look at Christopher as he asks his question and shake my head no.

"You could find the same things in the market in either so I'm not sure as to what they could be looking for." Looking around I spot the lush green of the untouched forest and a rather familiar mark, "Anyway we're close to the cave where the moonstones are. Lets go." Leading the way and leaving the pirates behind us, I lead the way to a small path that was covered by bushes and tall grass. There was a distinct tree that was right by it that was different from its neighbors which Bāchan showed me when I was little. The difference was the leaves. Unlike many of the tree leaves this one's leaves were an oval shaped and a slight yellowish color from the others. **Ok…now there should be a stream near by…now where is- Ah there it is! Now I just follow it to the pond with the small waterfall…**

A few minutes later we finally reach the pond. The water glistens from the sunlight at it falls of the small cliff creating a waterfall. I start feeling the rocky wall for a difference that will help me find the entrance to the cave. As I continue to look I can feel them staring at me.

"You know you guys don't have to sit there and watch; this place can be very relaxing so go and enjoy. Besides isn't it about time you guys went hunting."

"Trying to get rid of us?" Nathan asks bluntly,

"No of course not; it just may take me some time to locate the entrance so I don't want you to just sit there and do nothing. So go on enjoy yourselves." They still sit there as I turn around and try to locate the entrance. I set my satchel down and a second later I notice it being yanked away. Snapping around Russell has my pack in his mouth taunting me to try and take it back.

"Really? What are you a puppy?" I laugh. He growls playfully. **Fine I guess we can relax a bit.** I try taking the bag back and he pulls back away from my hand, his tail wagging. "Hey come on!"

Again I go for the pack but this time he passes it off to Thomas who easily gets I on the fun. He's not as fast as Russell but still manages to keep out of my reach. One time I nearly catch him but Eduardo stands in front of me growling. I have a pretty good idea as to what he has up his sleeve.

"Oh no…Eduardo don't you dare. What ever you have in that head of yours don't…"

"Too late already thought of it." I run trying to keep away from him but Christopher decides to slip me up with a smile on his face.

"Hey!"

"Sorry." Eduardo, now human, picks me up placing me over his shoulder and walks over to the pond,

"No, no, no! Eduardo please no!" the water is cold as I land with a splash. "Yeek! Eduardo!" When I meet him face to face he back to being a wolf, "…You big meanie."

"I take that as a compliment." **What a bully…** I splash water in his face before stepping out of the pond. My shirt takes a minute to ring out the excess water

"Ok you guys enough fun. Now give me back my bag." Thomas doesn't listen just sits there with his tail wagging. "Fine; keep it." I head back over to the wall searching for the opening and find the boulder that can move away. "Ah there it is." The circular rock is hard to move but little by little I get it to move. When I step back to see the progress I made which was only about a third of the way it suddenly rolls back in place. "What?!" Morgan stands in front of the boulder like the alpha wolf he is, "Come on… really, that took like fifteen minutes to open it that much." **Ok why is he just staring at me like that? My face is starting to turn red. **

"Hey Reisaki." He finally says,

"What?"

"Just take a minute to relax why don't you. Come on have you ever spent the night out in the forest?" **well no…I lived near by it…I didn't really ever think of it. Embarrassing head scratching moment…isn't that what this is?** "Come on you can look for those stones to morrow; have some fun. Considering everything that's happened so far don't you think you deserve a little vacation?"

"Well…" I take a look around the area, "it is pretty." **It's not like the villagers are going to come all the way out here anyway. Come to think of it… these pass few days have been stressful. I guess a day of relaxing is fine. **"Ok sure, why not?"

…


	5. Chapter 5

Mūnsutōn no dōkutsu; Naka no machi no hi (the moonstone cave; a day in the town of Naka) part 2

I was having a hard time trying to relax especially when every so often the others switch back and forth between their human form and their dog form then as a result I end up causing some sort of injury to their person as a reaction. Of course now that they've done it so many times it's not as bad; although I wish they would understand that they can't just change back and forth like that. While playing with Christopher, I notice that Russell and Thomas are rough housing themselves or rather Russell is making Thomas his personal chew toy. Nathan and Eduardo are only lazing around; the only one that I don't see is Morgan. Of course I find out he's around when I end up tripping on him after Christopher makes me walk back into him. By mid day I start getting hungry and start looking around for something to eat. The others head out to hunt leaving Thomas with me for company. He makes looking for nuts and berries and a few other things and gets pretty dirty when he starts digging around for them. Once I've gathered what I want I head for the pond and start to catch a few fish. About an hour later the others return with a large stag they're dragging with them. From the look of it they haven't started eating it. Seeing the dead animal makes my skin crawl and my blood go called. I try going back to what I was doing but Nathan interrupts me.

"Hey are you going to keep playing in the water or are you going to take your share of the meat?"

"Um…n-no thanks you can have it…" **that's right…I haven't explained to them that I don't eat meat…** "I was planning on eating some fish so you can go ahead and eat it." I try to throw of the suspicious wolves with a smile. But it doesn't seem to work. "What?"

"Don't be silly you can't live off of just fish. Eat already." Eduardo throws back at me.

"I said you can have it…" I say shyly rubbing the back of my neck looking away from them.

"Are you not feeling well?"

"N-no-I mean yes I'm fine Christopher…I just…um well…" I pointed to my pile of berries and nuts and a few wild turnips that Thomas had found. "I'll be fine really. Once I cook some fish I'll be all set."

"You'd rather have fish than actually meat? You're too dorky."

"I-I am not!" I protest against Nathans comment. "I just…I don't eat meat…" there's silence for a while as they all (even Nathan) look at me with wide eyes.

"You WHAT?!" they all say at once. In turn, it makes me start fiddling with the border of my shirt as I turn red.

"How can you not eat meat?!" the human Russell suddenly gets in my face. "What's wrong with you?"

"I just… feel uncomfortable eating it…"

"Ah I see." I look at Morgan, "Your being able to talk to animals right?" I nod.

"I don't get it…"

"Fish don't really have anything to say so I guess I don't feel the same way towards them and I can tolerate that…but other animals like Speck and even Fuzzy claw, I can't stand it even if they get hurt a little…eating them just seems wrong to me. I mean if I was them I wouldn't want someone coming around and try to eat me." I look Russell in the eyes.

"I still say it's weird."

"Now leave her be Russell; our Master doesn't want to eat meat so lets respect that wish." **Morgan says that but why does he sound so humored by that? **

I set up a place to cook the fish I caught and place them on skewers with the turnips. I do my best to not watch them eat the deer they caught but hearing the sounds only makes it worse with my imagination running wild. With the sun finally starting to set I find that I don't even miss the town or that I even think about it. Before twilight the others help me find firewood to last through the night; it turns out to be too big of a pile and end up using one of the smaller sticks to play with them. The only two who don't play is once again Eduardo and Nathan. My guess is that they don't like playing these kinds of games even if they are wild dogs. Suddenly Russell and Thomas both have the stick and neither of them wants to let go. The playful growls suddenly become more threatening as the two stare each other down.

"Don't even think about it." I say, "It's stupid to start a fight over who gets the twig or not." The look at me still with the stick in their mouths and blank stares, "If you can't play nice then game over." My arms fold. Christopher sneaks in behind them and grabs the stick from them both. Morgan them jumps in and tries to take the twig from him.

"Hey!" soon Russell and Thomas join in and the stick is forgotten as they create a dog pile of play fight. **It's still kind of hard to believe that these guys used to be pirates all those years ago especially looking at them now. **Suddenly two pairs of arms wrap around me. Looking on either side of me. I find Eduardo and Nathan in their human forms staring at me. The others stop looking at us.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing to Reisaki?" **I'm surprised Chirstopher is the first to ask that…**

"What does it look like? We're getting some alone time with our Mistress." Nathan states. My cheeks begin to feel red hot as their grips on my waist and around my shoulder grows tighter.

"That's not fair! I want some alone time with master too!" Russell races forward and by the time he's over to us he's human standing their angry at the two of them.

"She's a girl; stop calling her master…" Eduardo says coldly. **Surprisingly…even though I'm still tense…I'm strangely getting used to this…maybe because they've done it so many times already….**

"Don't hog Miss Reisaki…" Thomas whines, "I want to cuddle too…!"

"You're the runt; if anything you'll be last." Russell snaps. **Why do I feel a human dog pile coming on…?** I feel another pair of arms wrap warmly around me,

"Sorry Mistress, I didn't mean to scare you." Christopher says from behind me,

"Hey! I'm the captain; if anything I should get alone time with our master." With that the rest of them cling to me and send our huddle toppling over.

"Are you alright Christopher?!" he took the brunt of the fall for me,

"I'm fine. But thank you for your concern; that's really nice of you." As twilight turns to night they each get more comfortable as the cling to me by the fire. Gradually as they still clung to me even as they slept my body slowly begins to relax and my eyes feel heavy.

**It's strange, I feel safe around them all. I mean they still have a lot to be reminded of when it comes to being human…but their being here is really nice. I don't feel alone anymore. **

…

When I wake up I still find myself wrapped up in their arms.

"Yep…human dog pile. I most certainly called it." I look down and find Morgan resting his head on my chest, even though he's technically the oldest out of all them I find that I can't help but pat his head like a dog; he just seems so cute. I turn my half sleepy gaze to my right and find Christopher's gentle face close to mine. His arm drapes over me protectively as he sleeps peacefully. I don't really want to wake him so I try to move as slowly as possible reaching for his arm trying to move it away. He stirs making me draw my hand away; he opens his eyes just like the first time I saw him and he smiles kindly.

"Good morning."

"Hi…Yeek!" Morgan moves his head and some how lands in between my breasts. With a content look on his face he opens his eyes looking at my beet red face.

"Is it morning already?"

"Yep." I answer quickly.

"Can't we sleep in?"

"Nope…" I push his head to the side to give me some relief. The others start to wake up moaning and groaning, reluctant to get up. "Come on you guys, up and at 'em. Time to get moving." I say.

"Five more minutes…" Russell says clinging to me even tighter.

"The hell are you going to do with five more minutes?" Nathan asks scratching his head, somewhat annoyed.

"Five more minutes means five more minutes to cling to Master." He squeezes even tighter. Watching Nathan I can tell the cogs in his head are turning,

"Nice try Russell." I say wiggling out of his grip, "But we need to get moving." The rest are reluctant to let me go, "Come on guys let go already…" they still hold on, "…boys…RELEASE!" at my sudden outburst they all throw their hands up and I make my was out of their grip. "Thank you." I head back over to the stone I had tried rolling yesterday to try again at getting in the cave. It's easier this time with them actually helping me. It didn't take too long with their help and once that task was done they changed back into wolves. The way into the cave was dark so I lit a spare piece of firewood and used it as a torch. The others followed as I led the way. Soon the red glow of the fire was out matched by a soft blue glow. There was a puddle of water that I use in order to put out the torch and the moonstones shined like stars in the darkness. In normal day light they don't glow at all. But in dark places like this and even at night they give off a glow of blue light. I turned to the others,

"You can explore if you like; it won't take me long to-"

"First to find the most moonstones and brings them to Resaki wins!" the each made a dash for it in the race they started digging up dirt in every direction. I left them to it and looked for my own. Russell was the first to come to me with a moonstone.

"Mmm…good try but we need some that aren't so scrawny. They all may glow but it's brighter ones you want; they're the better quality." Eduardo brings over one that was decent size and quite smooth. Even though they glowed they sort of looked like opals too. "Like this one; these are the ones we want." I place the stone in my pouch and go back to searching. They soon all start bringing over some good picks and after and hour of searching we more than enough to keep us going for quite some time. "Ok you guys that's enough. Let's go." With the sun light shining in it becomes easy for us to get out. We roll the stone back over the entrance and not a moment too soon. When I turn around a group of men come through the bushes. There's one that wears a captains hat with a red feather sticking out of it. His white hair drapes over his shoulders and he scowls with cold ember eyes as he watches me. I swallow hard as the captain steps forward,

"You, woman." Nathan, Eduardo and Russell stand in front of me as he trots over,

"Easy…" I say loud enough for them to hear,

"Are you from the town back that way?"

"Yushi… no I'm not, I live near Naka." I felt safer by lying to him. I didn't really like the vibe he was giving.

"Near?"

"Yes near. I live in the forest away from society. I only go into town for some shopping every once in a while so it's rare if I ever go there. I haven't been to Yushi before." He looks down at the wolves by me. "They're friends and very protective. I wouldn't get any closer if I were you." One of them growls slightly, which makes me thing it was Eduardo. The captain looks us all over as if thinking about something, even strokes his short beard.

"We just came back from Yushi with a rather interesting story. A girl who talked to the animals sent them off against the town after a fire. They said she controlled them. In fact you look a lot like the description they gave."

"It must have been someone else. I haven't been there; some people like to spin tales. I did hear about the fire but I don't think it's possible to talks to animals."

"And you're so called friends here?"

"I just earned their trust…nothing more."

"I see." He looks at me making me uncomfortable, "Ever heard of the Yamato legend?"

"Yes about the Sirius pirates and what not." I try to sound calm but I'm sure he can tell my voice is shaky. "That's a common myth around these parts."

"Do you believe it?"

"Um…well no I can't say that I believe it after all it's just a story." I can't tell him that it's actually true and that the crew is actually standing in front of him.

"What's your name woman?"

"W-why do you need to know that?"

"I don't; tell me anyway." I think fast,

"Misha."

"Misha huh?" I wasn't about to give him my real name. Something about him doesn't seem right. He turns to the men behind him, "Men, we're moving out." We wait for them to leave before I slide against the wall to the ground and let out a big sigh,

"What the heck?" I say exasperated.

"That sounded like the people we hid from before." Christopher says, "I think it was a good idea for you to lie in this situation."

"I thought he was going to cut my throat or something."

"He's someone who isn't afraid to draw blood." I look at a serious Morgan. "He's dangerous; it's best to stay away from him." I curl into a ball still shaking a bit from what just t happened. **He seemed really interested in stories from here; why though?**

The home that I came to reminded me a lot of the one back on the other side of the forest. It's been a while since I have been back to this one. It seemed to be midday and the cabinets need to be stocked with some food.

"I'm going to the market." As I head for the door I can hear there padded footsteps on the wooden floor and I turn around, "What are you doing?"

"Coming with you. What else?" Nathan says. I shake my head,

"Thanks but no. Remember the last time you guys came with me? It escalated into something that could have been avoided." They all seem to remember what happened, "Look I'll be fine; people in this village don't know me so it's not like they can say anything to me and I'm only going for a bit to get some food." I turn to leave but they start following me again, "No." I turn back around, "Boys…STAY!" the outburst seemed to work the first time so hopefully it will work this time. "I promise I'll be fine; I should be back by twilight." With that and with no more interruptions I'm able to leave.

The village takes a bit to get used to as I learn where everything is. First I had to find a shop to appraise one of the moonstones we found. After I got some money, I started shopping. I collected rice, leeks, and many other items. People in this town seem nicer than the others back in Yushi. They seem to smile and wave as I pass by. Looking around I find a few other items I could by.

**Come to think of it…the others seems really intent on staying close to me. So maybe I should buy them some clothes to give them. That way they can be reintroduced to human society and maybe want to go back to it just a bit. I don't know where to start though. They all have their own personality and they act more like wolves than humans; that's probably from being charmed for over 100 years and experienced real freedom. Maybe I should ask them first before I even do something like that… I wouldn't even know where to start with shirts to let alone full outfits for them. hm…what's going on over there?**

I come across a crowd of people standing outside a bar/ inn.

"I can't believe it; what are wild animals doing in a place like this?"

"Do they belong to someone?"

"What are you crazy those dogs are wild!" **Oh please don't let those be my wild mutts. PLEASE!**

"YEEEEK!" a waitress dashes out of the bar her face bright red. "What happened to the dogs?! Now there's six naked men in there!" **oh crap…! **I dash over and stand in the doorway. My jaw drops at what I see. Although at the moment I see only two of my charges. The whole place is a wreck. There's broken dishes all over the place food sticking to the wall and ceiling not to mention it's all over the floor. Tables are turned over along with chairs and in the center of the room I find Eduardo and Russell arguing. I turn, slam the door shut and lock it so that no one else can come in.

"What the hell Eduardo?! That was my meat; I was going to taste it first!"

"Too bad; I got to it first!" the two start growling before the start fighting; biting and clawing each other as if they were still wolves.

"I'm gonna claw your eye out you one eyed mutt!"

"Not before I rip your throat out!"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!" I scream over them getting their attention.

"Reisaki…"

"Hello Mistress."

"Don't Mistress me! Where are the others?" There's a sound of glass breaking and I find Thomas holding a drinking glass in his hand smoothly before he drops it and watches it shatter. Nathan sits there watching the glass before hit the floor in front of him before inspecting the shattered pieces. He sniffs it first before poking a few of the pieces before putting a piece in his mouth, "Don't do that; you're going to cut your mouth open!" he spits it out looking at me blankly.

"Hi miss Reisaki! We found you."

"That food doesn't really seem edible if it cuts your mouth…"

"That's because it's NOT FOOD!" I hear footsteps and find the last two of my pack, Christopher's body is all wet and Morgan has a bra in his mouth.

"Reisaki it's so unusual! There's a thing that spouts water all by itself." Christopher says innocently. Morgan takes the bra in his hand,

"Hey is this a chew toy? It smell funny though; it smells like a female. Do you wear these things Reisaki?" **un-be-lieve-able… you mean to tell me none of them really remember anything about the human world? **

Russell and Eduardo go back to fighting making me turn to them first. I roll up my sleeves and stomp over to them. "ENOUGH!" they both flinch, "Get off the floor right now before I make you myself!" on my command they do what I say. I hear another crash and turn to Nathan and Thomas, "You two!" They flinch as they look over at me, "Put the glass down and get your butts over here!" then I turn to Morgan and Christopher, "You!" I point to Morgan, "Drop it right now!" the bra leaves his hand but Christopher curiously picks it up. So I go over to him and slap it out of his hand, "No!" Morgan slings himself over me and smiles,

"Hey we finally found you. This place is fun why didn't you let us come with you?"

"Because I knew YOU would act up!" I grab his ear and pull him over to the door,

"Ow, Ow that hurts!"

"The rest of you Get over here!" realizing I'm not messing around they do as I say. I release Morgan's ear, "Look you can't just go around changing into humans any time you want in town, especially in a-"

"Hey who's in there?" the door knob jiggles. "Open up!" I turn back to the others,

"Quick change back to wolves now."

"But Reisaki we-"

"I said now!" the lock on the door clicks and I turn to see that owner. His eyes are wide with shock as he stares at the damaged tavern, "My…my bar…i-it's ruined." I turn to glance at the wolves standing behind me and glare, I watch as their ears go back. Turning my attention back to the owner I bow deeply,

"I'm very sorry for the mess and damage done to your tavern…I'm still trying to train my dogs at the moment. I guess they must have gotten off their leashes… I thought o left them AT HOME…"

"Well obviously something went wrong!"

"I know and I'm sorry; I take full responsibility for the mess." I reach into my pouch and pull out a moonstone. "I found this a few days ago; it's the only one I have. I'm sure this should cover the damage done to the place. The quality is pretty good it should be enough. And please don't worry…I plan on doing something about their behavior…or at least buy stronger leashes."

"Well…considering you intended to leave them behind and you thought you took the necessary actions to secure them and you're taking responsibility for it…I suppose I could let it slide this once." I thank him before turning to them, "Get moving…" one by one they exit the bar and I follow after them.

After retrieving my items, I make my way back home silently walking in front of the pack of six anxious wolves waiting for me to say something. I stop walking and let off a big sigh, no longer caught up in a rage I turn to them and set the items down before kneeling down to meet them face to face. The wait for me to say something, again I sigh, "…Come here." I say kindly hoping to let them know I'm not angry. Thomas hesitates but is the first to come over; the others come over after.

"Sorry Miss Reisaki, we didn't mean to make you angry." They each nuzzle against me as if saying they were sorry too. **I feel bad making them feel like this…**

"No…I'm sorry; I shouldn't have gotten so mad… but you guys I think we need to have a long talk about your being able to change back and forth between two forms. Or at least find a way for you to understand."** But that can come later…right now I just want them to understand that I'm sorry for snapping on them.**

That night I didn't put up a protest about them sleeping in my bed as wolves nor did I say anything to them when I woke up to see them in their humans forms.


	6. Chapter 6

**Ok this is what I have come up with so far… I have been brain dead ever since classes started back up for me…so please be patient as I think about these stories…the chapters may be shorter due to brain deadness… enjoy.**

Kyaputen Rai to Kuro Larka No Kaizoku (Captain Rai and the Pirates of the Black Larka)

It had been a few weeks since the whole bar incident and unlike those back in Yushi, the commotion dies down and no one questioned it further. Today starts another day and I find myself waking up as usual with a pile of men clinging to me. With a free hand I rub my eye Thomas moves under the covers and ends up hitting Nathan below at my feet.

"Damn it!" he sits up holding the side of his face, "…Thomas…" although he's slightly angry he doesn't do anything but lay back down clinging to my legs again. Feeling like I want to be lazy today I shift laying on my side seeing Christopher's sleeping face before closing my eyes again. The next thing I know something wet, cold and slightly loud touches my ear,

"Mgh!" realizing that it one of the wolves that are my friends I pull the cover over my head so they can't do it again. Although I soon learn I shouldn't have done that. One thing I've come to learn from being the master of the pack of the Sirius crew is that in a lot of ways they act like dogs. In this case they crave attention from me the instant they're awake. They make their way under the covers and instantly start attacking me, licking my face and just being…well wild dogs seeking attention. Soon I have no choice but to sit up. Stretching I let off a big yawn.

"Why do you guys do that? It never fails, every time I sleep in later than you guys you do this."

"Good morning Miss Reisaki!" Acting like a cute pup Thomas lays on my lap so that I have a chance to rub his belly. Instead I reach back and scratch behind his ear which I've learned is his weak spot: his leg always kicks involuntarily when I scratch just right. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Eduardo shake his head. Once Thomas moves out of the way Morgan lunges for the free spot resting his head on my chest. I've come to learn that even though it's more wolf like Morgan is a bit more…promiscuous. He tries to be subtle about it being a wolf but he does things to get close to certain areas whether he's teasing or not. He's a rather curious wolf. Even though I have this in mind, I still pet him with a smile on the top of his head then move his head with a knowing smile curving over my lips,

"Nice try…" he gives a wolf smile showing all his teeth. Looking at the clock I notice the time to be pretty late. I stretch one last time before fighting the urge to stay in bed. Although to be honest I feel a bit light headed I ignore the feeling and get up. I start my usual routine for the day: I go about doing some chores and they follow me around and help here and there. Setting the plate of seed out for the birds they give me a few complaints about being late but scatter when Nathan comes to sit next to me. After telling him he really shouldn't do that and him telling me he doesn't care, I go about other things I think that should be done. Every so often one of my muscles feels a bit achy and I have to wait for my head to stop spinning but some how manage to keep going. Although I don't think I can fool them; even though he startles me a bit Christopher walks over to me and places a hand on my forehead.

"Reisaki you feel a bit warm."

"…I'm fine." I try to say with a smile but it only makes him more suspicious. His eyes narrow a bit as he continues to stare at me. "W-what?"

He smiles laughing slightly,

"You're not very good at lying, at least not to us."

"You think we haven't been noticed you've been pretty quiet today?" Eduardo asks rather rudely. Although I've gotten used to his smug remarks.

"Alright so I haven't been feeling very well today…" I say giving into the pressure. "But I'm fine; there's no need to worry." I try smiling again but it doesn't really do anything. **I was going to go out and buy them some clothes today…I wanted it to be a surprise. But I can't do that if I'm stuck at home.**

They don't seem to want to put up with it as a human Morgan picks me up and carries me back into my bead room and sets me on the bed.

"H-hey…"

"It's your turn to stay."

"What?"

"You tell us to stay here when you go to the village; so now we're telling you to stay in bed." **What? What kind of logic is that…? The only reason I tell them to stay here when I go to the village is to keep them out of trouble. I don't want the villagers coming after them again.**

"…That doesn't really make any sense." I say trying to stand but soon the wolves gang up on me forcing me to stay in bed. I can't help but laugh, "Alright, alright, you win." There's a bang on the door making us all look in the direction of the door. The knocking comes again and the others let off a growl, "What is it?" I whisper.

"It's the pirates from before." Morgan says.

"What? But I thought they left by now; I haven't seen them in a while." Morgan changes back into a wolf as I continue to stay in bed. They bang on the door again making it sound as though they will break the door down. It only makes the others more agitated growling even more. **I don't think they know I'm here… but what are they here for?**

I can feel the bug I caught getting worse and I lay down hiding under the covers.

"They'll eventually have to go away…" I mumble. The bed rocks as one of the wolves jumps on the bed. They only bang louder proving me wrong. Feeling a wave of exhaustion hit me I sit up and start heading for the door. Shivering slightly I can tell right away that I have a fever and I grab a blanket. Heading out to the front and stand in front of the door noticing three people standing there on the other side. One I can tell is the captain from the group.

"Go away, I'm not taking any visitors today." I say flatly.

"Open the door woman before I open it my self."

"You do that, you give my friends plausible reason to attack you and your members… trust me they don't mind doing that and quite frankly neither do I. Now please leave." I turn to head back to bed,

"Riesaki…" my body tenses and I freeze in place. My knees were weak before but now they feel as though they would give out on me. "I hear she can talk to animals; that the animals all like her. That kind of skill could come in handy for me. Know who she is?"

"Never heard of her." **Where did he hear about me? I've given people a different name in town…unless did he learn about me in Yushi?** "If you have nothing else please leave. I'm not taking visitors today."

"She was last seen on the other side of the forest but with it gone we heard that she came to this side. I thought she might have stayed in the village but no one has heard about her."

"I just said that I haven't either…now please leave."

"Your mutts would know where she is wouldn't they? If they knew who she was right? That would mean you would have met her too."

"As far as I know they haven't wandered off to meet someone else; they've been with me ever since I met them. Which means I don't know any Reisaki. I will ask you one more time to leave; if you don't then I'm afraid that my friends will have to show you out their way. Two of them in particular would like to sink their teeth into you." Nathan and Eduardo both step forward to get a head start at the door. But it turns out to be for nothing. After a few seconds the pirates leave. Still shivering and realizing that I'm getting worse I skulk back into my room without them following me. I change into my pajamas before burring myself in my bed. Again the bed moves as on of the wolves jumps on it. But it's only one this time I don't hear the others come in.

"I've told the others to stand watch at different areas of the house for the night while I guard you." **Morgan…? Why is he…** I lift the covers off from over my head to meet him face to face. His eyes seem to glow in the faint moonlight and I find myself staring. He seems to be acting more serious than what he usually does and as he lays beside me there's an air of maturity that I hadn't seen before since I met him. His head rests right next to mine still looking at me,

"I won't let them get close to you." **I…why not we?** With sleep taking hold of me I move as close as I can to Morgan placing a hand on his head, stroking his fur. He rubs his head against my hand, the last thing I remember before falling asleep.

I wake up feeling the arms around me again; I vaguely remember the others coming into the room at a later time and Morgan told them it would be better if they all stayed to protect me. I still feel a little light headed and feeling my forehead my fever hasn't gone away completely. I try sneaking around Christopher when a strong grip pulls me back down with a yelp. "Your turn to stay." I hear Morgan say. I look over and find him staring at me with the same air about him as he had the night before. This Morgan is definitely different from the usual one. "Rest." Is all he says before closing his eyes again. I soon follow after. When I wake up the sun has nearly set and I find the bed empty of both humans and wolves. Feeling a little better and hungry I get up and head for the kitchen. I smile as I find them there.

"Miss Reisaki you're up!"

"Yeah sorry about that; I just caught a little bug but I'm feeling better now." I look back at the door, "Did they come back at all?"

"No, they seem to have bought your story." Eduardo says,

"But it's strange though; how did they find out?"

"My mother or someone in the village most likely Russell."

"What would they want with you though? He said something about your being able to talk to animals."

"I don't really want to know." I say getting started with making something to eat. "Have you all been cooped up in here the whole time I've been in bed?" they stay silent which gives me all the answer I need. I head for the pantry I use to keep meat in for the other carnivores that come by and pull out a big hunk of deer enough for them all. "There you go; next time take care of yourselves too would you?" none of them answer me as the go for the meat. It takes a minute for Thomas to find a place in the huddle before he finds a way in. I grab an apple and make a salad for breakfast and eat quickly. **I had hoped to go and buy a few more items for them but I guess what I have in storage should be good enough.** While they still attacked the deer I sneak out and head into the storage room and pull out what I had been hiding from them as a surprise.

"Miss Reisaki what are you doing?" the others must have finished their meal because now their standing in the door way.

"Shoo back out in the front room now." I chime.

"What are you up to?"

"You'll see Christopher; now shoo." I move my hand indicating them to go back out into the room as I finish getting what I need. Once I've collected everything, I drag the surprise out into the living room making them all stare at me. "Whew…I didn't think it would be so heavy."

"What is that Miss Resaki?" Thomas comes over to inspect the big leather bag, sniffing it curiously.

"Yeah I don't think I remember that bag." Russell says.

"Well you guys cause quite a disturbance the last time I took- or rather left you here and you ended up in town somehow." Their ears go back,

"Are you still mad about that?"

"No of course not silly but it did get me thinking…you guys are always hanging around here so you must get bored. So I figured why not take you guys with me next time. But it would be weird if six wolves showed up with me so…" I reach into the bag and pull out a shirt, "how bout you all come with me as humans." Their tails all wag in unison before the start charging over. "Eek!" by the time they reach me it turns into another human dog pile.

"Alright Master you're the best!"

"You don't have to be so nice to us you know."

"What are you talking about doc? You're gonna make her change her mind."

"I want to try on something; will you pick out something Miss Reisaki?"

"Just a sec you guys before we get carried away." I wiggle out of their grip and stand switching to master of the pack, "Now listen if this is going to work you can't pull the same stunts you did the other day. You have to behave yourselves; don't try anything unless I tell you it's ok. It's not just a trip to have fun, you all have completely forgotten human society. So hopefully this will help out with that a bit." They listen to me intently as I talk, "I'm not saying I don't want you to have fun but…just be a bit more careful with your actions and if your unsure about something just ask me. I can't afford to pay for another bar/inn. Got it?" they nod in unison and I smile, "Ok then, now who's first?"

*Face palm* **I shouldn't have asked that… what the hell am I thinking? 3…2…1…**

"YEEK!" again they pin me down in a human dog pile arguing among themselves as to who I should dress first and completely forget that I'm on the bottom of said pile. **Like I didn't see this coming…**

It took me the rest of the morning and into the early afternoon by the time I finish putting their outfits together. It was a bit difficult seeing as how I had them try on various things from traveler's clothes to what we wear here in Yamato. Finally I got it to look right on all of them and stuck with something they probably would have worn back when they were pirates. It's been over one hundred so it should be ok.

"Hold still Thomas; let me fix your collar."

"Sorry."

"Do we really have to wear these? They feel itchy." Eduardo complains first as I expected,

"Yes, Eduardo you have to wear it; you'll get used to it."

"It feels confining…" I hear Nathan mutter,

"Well confining or not you have to wear them if you're going around people." I say finishing Thomas' off, "There you go."

"Thanks Miss Reisaki."

"I don't know why you're all complaining so much; Reisaki went through a lot of trouble to do this for us." Christopher's as kind as ever,

"It's ok Chris; I know it will probably feel weird the first couple of times but hopefully you'll get used to it. Besides, I don't want to force too much on you at once but little by little."

"I'm a bit curious though…" I look at Morgan, "You said we have to wear these around other people, does that include you too?" I glare up at the ceiling feeling my cheeks get hot, "Well…?" I can feel their gazes on me as I try not to look at them.

"Well-um-that is-" I take a breath before retuning my gaze to Morgan who is now closer than before, "Um…well you guys can be yourselves around me…this is…just when you're around people who don't know about the spell and all that." I didn't exactly know how to say it but I wasn't trying to change them, "Around here and me you can be as comfortable as you want." a big hand rests on my head patting it.

"Good for a second I thought that wasn't the case." Now wait just a second,

"Of course I'm not trying to change you guys like that! Morgan that's mean; you guys are my friends! I can't believe that you would think I was trying to change you guys like that; I just thought that you guys would like to see how the world was like now since you haven't for a long time!"

"Whoa captain, I think you stuck a nerve…"

"Miss Reisaki's kind of scary when she gets mad…" I turn away from him folding my arms across my chest; instantly a pair of arms wrap around me.

"I'm sorry Reisaki; I didn't mean anything by that. It was just a joke." He buries his face in my neck apologetically. **A joke? **Suddenly my anger subsides,

"Bachan and I had to hear things like that from the villagers back in Yushi. So I don't like it when things like that are said about me. Sorry…"

He rubs against my hair like a dog seeking comfort; I sigh and pat him on the head "I think you may be the biggest puppy of all in this group…" there's a terrible bang on the door as a shadow once again stands outside, and it looks familiar.

"Open up woman…it's been more than enough time for you to be with out guests now open up. **I knew it it's that same guy from before. **Suddenly, Morgan pushes me to the ground and covers me with his own body standing over me as if he was a wolf still. **Why is this guy so persistent when it comes to talking to me?** The others stay quiet glaring at the door. My muscles tighten as the captain bangs on the door again. "One way or another woman I will talk to you! Make no mistake! My patience are growing thin; I know you know more than you let on and will get the information I want one way or another…! I know you are not who you say you are; If I have to I will make you suffer to get the information I want." soon the shadow leaves and I let go of a breath I had been holding onto for a long time. **What the heck does he want from me? ok granted I haven't told the guy who I really am but how could I possibly know that he wants?**

"I don't like this." I look up at Morgan still hovering over me, "He's too persistent with you."

"I don't get it. I don't know what he wants from me, even if I did tell him who I was really."

"All the more reason I don't like it; it means he knows something that you aren't aware of." **You know he's kind of hot when he gets serious like this… wait what the heck am I thinking?**

"I don't think we should stay here any more." Christopher speaks up, "This is turning into a dangerous situation. He's the kind of person who becomes obsessed with something. This is proof enough of that."

"I agree with Doc; we need to relocate." **Even Eduardo huh…** **they're probably right though; that guy is dangerous. We don't even know what he wants. It's probably best if we leave and fast.** **Besides I don't want anything happening to them either. If this guy does attack the first thing they'll think about is keeping me safe; they could end up getting hurt.** Morgan allows me to stand up.

"To morrow we'll head to the moon cave, gather as many moonstones as we can carry. The next day we head for the mountain pass that will take us to Shinju village. It's a small community hidden in a valley surrounded by a mist covered forest. We should be safe there. Does that sound good?" I look at them all and none seem to object, "Come on you guys at least give me an answer." I smile, "This isn't just my call it's yours too."

"What ever you think is best Reisaki." I raise my eyebrows,

"How many times do I have to say it: I'm not really your master I'm your friend. I'm asking you because you guys aren't animals you're human so give me an answer would you?" a hand pets my head and it turns out to be Christopher, "H-hey…!"

"Sorry mistress but we are loyal dogs to you." **I wish they would stop saying that…they really should stop.** "Sorry if that upsets you."

"It's not that it upsets me so much as the fact that it doesn't upset you."

"What do you mean?"

"You seem to just follow what that charm said, like you're letting it define you guys as just only that when you guys are more than that." I watch as the gears turn in their heads,

"Hadn't thought of it like that before…" I hear Nathan say. "But then again we've been this way for over one hundred years so it never really crossed our minds." I can feel an air of sadness start to fill the room. **Me and my big mouth…Bachan did always say I spoke my mind just a bit much.**

"Sorry I didn't mean to say something hurtful."

"Why are you apologizing Reisaki?" I can't seem to answer Eduardo. Christopher hugs me gently

"You don't need to apologize about anything; but we like being with you like this."

"Well so long as it doesn't bother you…I guess."

"We are changing actually." I look over at Morgan, "You may not see it like this but we act more human since we've been around you. So subtly we have been acting more than just what that charm told us." The thought sort of eases my mind and I leave it at that with a smile.

After finishing that conversation I have them change back into wolves so that I can take their clothes and pack them away properly promising to take them into the village the first chance we get. They seem content with that answer. The next day as planned we head to the moon cave and fill a rather large bag with moon stones. It takes a couple of hours to do so. Once I take the bag back to the house I decide to go into town to buy some supplies for the trip. Morgan has me take Christopher with me just in case. Thomas being just a curious wolf wants to come along as well so I let him come along with me. Of course once we get into town everyone stares at the two wolves trotting by me but I don't mind seeing as how this is the last time they'll see me to begin with. I try to keep the conversation quiet as we gather what we need.

"Any sign of those other pirates?"

"No nothing yet."

"I don't even smell them…"

"Ok just one more stop then we're home free." I say. It was like I jinxed my self, because when I turned guess who's standing there? I completely froze seeing the mean captain and two of his crew members standing there in front of me. My eyes widen and my heart starts thumping loudly in my ears. His eyes narrow as he stares at me,

"You're a hard woman to get a hold of you know?"

"You've been trying?" I try acting like I haven't noticed.

"Don't play dumb woman; my kindness is about to go out the window." He suddenly grabs hold of my wrist with a force that tells me he's going to kill if he has to, "Now then Misha, if that's your real name, I have a few questions for you that need answering." **He's not playing around…his grip is growing too tight; and his eyes look like death. **Suddenly Christopher jumps up biting down on the captains wrist as hard as he can and I swear that I can hear the bone break. The captain lets go and we make a run for it.

"After her! Do not let her escape!" he orders the two crew members after me. Trying to hold onto my bags proves to be useless and I end up dropping it all to increase my speed. The two are fast as they manage to keep up with me. Trying to lose them I jump over garbage that I come across in an alleyway; Christopher and Thomas jump over the pile of rubble easily. I run through a crowd of people hoping to lose them but it doesn't work; in fact it does just the opposite. More seem to find me. Suddenly one jumps out in front of me and tries to grab hold of me. Thomas surprises me by jumping on him and giving him a pretty good mauling. After a few seconds he catches up with us. Soon I take some stone stairs that lead to a dark dead end. We duck behind the building as the pirates pass by. Taking the time to catch my breath I can hear them both panting as we listen for any signs of them coming back. I look down at them and they seem to think it's safe…for the moment.

"New plan. We get the others and head for Shinju this afternoon."

"Yeah good plan I like that plan." Thomas is trying to act tough but I can tell he's a bit scared. I kneel down and hug the both of them for reassurance for both sides. Once we make sure the cost is clear we head out again but soon trouble finds us again.

"There she goes!" one spots me and tries to grab me but as soon as he tries I kick him in the balls and send him down. Some how we find the items we left behind pick them up and hightail it back to the forest.


	7. Chapter 7

Kyaputen Rai to Kuro Larka No Kaizoku (Captain Rai and the Pirates of the Black Larka) Part 2

Thanks to planning ahead, our stuff was all ready to go; once we had gotten back and explained what happened the others wasted not time in grabbing our items and heading out. Running, we head for the pass leading to the mountains. By the time we stop night has fallen. I take a moment to catch my breath and hear the others panting as well,

"Are you guys ok?"

"Don't worry about us idiot; worry about yourself first." Eduardo says in between breaths.

"Shouldn't we try to cover our tracks?" Thomas asks.

"It would take too long and the wind should help in covering them; we can't do that much about it at the moment. We don't know how far or close behind those pirates are." Russell explains. Taking a minute to gulp down some air to calm my burning lungs Morgan checks on me,

"Can you keep going?"

"Yeah just catching my breath."

"We can't stay here for too long." He's right. I stand up, readjust my shoulder bag and start running again. However only a few meters away from where we stopped someone waits for us and it turns out to be another crew member. He draws a jagged sword before he advances closer; Eduardo, Nathan and Russell stand in his path their fur standing on end while all of them growl angrily. From the shadows behind the first pirate a few others step forward with various weapons. From the corner of my eye I notice Morgan turn around his attention on something else. When I turn around the captain stands there calmly with the rest of his crew.

**We're trapped…what do we do?**

"You most certainly are a difficult woman to get ahold of, Misha, or should I say Reisaki." **So he did find out my real name…** "You're going to come with me now one way or another."

"Why should I? I'm not bothering anybody. I just want to live in peace."

"Your ability to communicate with animals will be quite useful to me in many ways. You have no choice in this matter; you are coming. It can be done quick and painless or slow and painful. What shall it be?"

"I'm not going." I reply quickly.

"Wrong choice." He gestures for his men to attack giving the six wolves a reason to attack. Eduardo is the first to attack taking down the first pirate before he's able to get in one hit. Thomas and Christopher work together sending a few pirates of the edge of the cliff. Thomas bites into their leg giving Christopher the chance to ram them off the edge. Another tries to attack Nathan but misses his target more than once giving him the opening to attack on the back of the neck. Russell goes for his own target clawing and scratching as much as possible. While the others are preoccupied one steps passed them carrying a scythe over his shoulder. With glasses on his face his ember eyes look at me coldly. Although he looks slender and thin something tells me it's a different story. Bluish black hair slightly covers his forehead and judging from his clothes he has to be the second in command. Morgan stands in front of me as the man advances,

"Out of the way mutt." In response Morgan only growls protectively at him. The man inches closer only making Morgan growl even more ferociously. The guy raises his scythe and tries to attack Morgan only to have the wolf jump out of the way and try to counter him. He uses the scythe to keep Morgan from his face flinging him off. The blade then just barely misses the wolf before by few hairs as Morgan back flips out of the line of the attack. The mates eyes widen slightly at the feat before swinging down trying to strike one good hit. Morgan finally sees an opening and jumps only the long handle of the scythe and lunges for his the mate. Dropping the scythe he tries to keep Morgan off of him and away from his face and even his neck. Someone grabs me from behind and a cold blade stops at my throat.

"Ah?!" Morgan along with the others stop attacking.

"So my crew has been reduced to dog catchers…and not very good ones at that…" the captains voice comes from behind me and I feel his lips touch my ear making my skin crawl, "Now call off you damn mutts before I have them offed one by one." I try to struggle out of his grip but he only grips tighter pressing the dagger closer to my skin. The manner he treats me causes the others to growl, "They seem very intent on keeping you safe which is why they won't attack however," one of the pirates comes up from behind and kicks Thomas. The yelp he lets off makes my blood go cold, "My men have no problem attacking them. Your next choice is that of life and death; I suggest you choose wisely."

**No…I can't do anything to help them. What is he going to do if I say yes? If I try to do anything he'll hurt them…but if the others try to do anything he'll just cut me… we're trapped! I don't know what he has planned; I don't even know where he plans on taking us but I can't let the others get hurt.**

My eyes meet with theirs and they seem to be thinking the same thing I am. I take a deep breath knowing that I will most likely regret this decision,

"Don't hurt them… I won't fight back." The knife leaves my throat but he still holds me back.

"Tie up those damn dogs, muzzle them if you have to. They may prove useful to us if we have her controlling them." all I'm able to do is watch them as one by one they tie a rope around their muzzle and neck.

…

They raided everything we had brought with us and even took the sack of moonstones we had. Now with everything of value they force us to walk back to their ship in the night. Russell and the others are being dragged in the back while the captain pulls me along as he leads the way. We reach a quiet sleeping town of Naka and come to the port. There a massive black ship with black sails floats on the water as the moonlight falls on it eerily. It almost looks like a ghost ship. Other crew members prepare the ship for the arrival of their captain placing a platform down for everyone to board.

"Captain Rai." One calls as he drags me onto the ship. "Welcome back sir. I take it you found what you were looking for." He jerks me forward,

"It took me long enough but yes. Welcome to the Black Larka Reisaki." I glare it Captain Rai with distain. "You are now a member of this crew I suggest you start getting used to it."

"I'd rather not…" he passes me off to his mate who looks at me with cold eyes, "Take her to my quarters and see to it that she doesn't leave."

"What about the wolves, sir?" he turns to my friends,

"Tie them up down below deck." As soon as the orders are given I'm soon dragged away as I try to fight against the mate. The others try to fight against the ropes a few of them freeing themselves from their muzzles as they try to break free. The mate tosses me into the room and slams the door behind me, leaving me banging on the door as I listen to the howling wolves translating them into cries for freedom. I don't know how much time passed after I finally couldn't hear them anymore but I didn't stop banging on the door.

"Let me out of here you dirty snakes! Let me out!" finally the door opens revealing Captain Rai glaring at me.

"You make a lot of noise for a woman." I say nothing in response, "You are annoying my men to their last nerve and mine as well."

" Where are my friends? What do you want with me? With us?" I get straight to the point.

"They are not your concern anymore; they belong to me now."

"Like hell they do! They belong to no one, especially you!" he takes off his hat and sets it on the table before turning to me with a big smirk on his face,

"You are very strong willed woman. It would seem that I will have to break you of that in order to get some peace around here." I back away from the advancing captain placing my hands behind my back. I catch something in my hands that feels as though it could be a blunt object and grasp it tightly.

"Why are we here?" I ask again as I continue to back away from him finally reaching a wall.

"You are here because your abilities are of great value. You can talk to creature and even get them out of the way for us. You would even be able to send them after our enemies if needed."

"I don't force them to do what they don't want…I earn their trust and become friends with them."

"You had better start learning how to force them, because that's exactly what you will be doing from now on woman."

"Where are my wolves…where are my friends?!" he closes in on me using his arms to close off any escapes. My grip on the object grows even tighter behind my back.

"They are being taken care of; you don't have to worry about them." he takes hold of my face forcing me to look at him, "Now then it's time I break you woman." His lips crash into mine aggressively forcing his tongue into my mouth. I take the object from behind my back and try to hit him upside the head, but he seems to sense what I'm up to and grabs hold of my hand forcing me to release the object. He brings my other hand above my head along with the first and pins them down. I bite his lip making him release mine and strike him in his manhood. He lets go of me giving me a chance to escape. Rai recovers quickly grabbing hold of my foot and makes me fall.

"Yeek!" I'm dragged across the floor until I'm underneath him and he's staring at me from above with a crooked grin on his face.

"Haha, you're quite spirited; too bad I have to break you. Now hold still so this can be quick." **He's so much different from Toma…! He's scary! No I can't let my nerves get to me! I have to fight back!**

I slam my forehead into his and cause him to release me in pain. I kick him off and make my way for the door. But it's locked no matter how hard I try to open it the door won't open. "Little wench!" he grabs hold of my hair and yanks me away from the door. My cheek erupts in pain before I hit the ground. "It's going to be fun breaking you!" trying to get my bearings I crawl over to something that feels soft. Again he grabs me by my hair and pulls me up throwing me onto a bed. Again he pins my hands above my head causing me to knee him in the face. As I try to escape he grabs hold of my shirt ripping it apart before grabbing ahold of my arm and pulling me down under him again. Before I can kick him again, he pins my legs down allowing him full access to me. Still I continue to struggle as he holds me down,

"You are quite the challenge woman. It looks a though it may take a few times before I'm able to break your spirit." With his free hand reaches for what's under my shirt grabbing hold of my breast.

**No, NO, No! please stop let go of me! stop it! I don't want this! I don't want this! Some one please… save me… save me…**

"HEEEELLLP!" the door burst open allowing the wolves that burst through and come at him. Rai moves out of the way before my vision is filled with a sight of someone's bear shoulder. Strong arms wrap around me protectively as the person keeps me out of the reach of Rai. There are a few brown strands that I can see that look familiar to me. looking up I look at the profile of Morgan gritting his teeth as he glares at the captain at the other side of the room. From behind Morgan I can see the others still in their wolf forms standing between us and him not leaving an opening at all. Reflexively I hide my sight in the safety of Morgan's neck as I cling to his shoulders.

"And just what the HELL" he growls "do you think you're doing to our Misstress…!"


	8. Chapter 8

_**What happens behind the scenes ^^**_

**Roringugaru: *****Types on computer***** "finally I have found some time to write I just wish I didn't leave so many cliff hangers…"**

**Russell: isn't that technically what makes them fun to read Roringugaru?**

**Morgan: That's right; you got stuff going on they should understand.**

**Roringugaru:"Where the heck did you guys come from? You're supposed to be getting ready for the next act while I write the script…"**

**Eduardo: since when do we need to rehearse? It's us you're talking about.**

**Roringugaru: "I'm sorry but who screwed up the most the last episode Eddyboy?" **

**Eduardo: *Pulls out gun***

**Roringugaru: "Put the gun away or I'll kill you off…"**

**Eduardo: Damn Author…**

**Roringugaru:*Finishes typing* "aaaaand done. Ok here you go guys the next chapter."**

**Christopher: looks like I get a good part this time thank you.**

**Thomas: Wow I have to memorize all this? **

**Roringugaru: *****Shifts glasses***** I think you can handle it Thomas; your a lot better than what you think.**

**Nathan: the hell…I'm not saying this line. It's dorky…! **

**Roringugaru: Deal with it…I'm still busy with a bunch of things at least you get a part in this one Nathan…be grateful that you get to do another chapter.**

**Christopher: She's right come on lets get going.**

**Morgan: This is going to be more fun than taking down the Moldor army.**

**Thomas: h-hey has anybody seen Miss Reisaki? She's not here."**

**Reisaki: *Bursts through the door* I'm so sorry I'm late! Did we start rehearsing yet?**

**Christopher: Nope you just made it.**

**Roringugaru: *Fixes glasses again* Ok you guys let's get started we'll make this the best installment of the story yet!**

**Everyone: Alright; Let's get started!**

**Hogo Kurisutofā (Protective Christopher)Part 1**

The others still snarl at the captain as I hide behind Morgan. His grip around me grows tighter as he tenses even more,

"Give me a reason why we shouldn't slaughter you right now?" Rai doesn't say anything. "You must really want to die."

"This is quite interesting." I hear Rai say. "I guess it is safe to assume that the other wolves here can do the same trick as you….so the Yamato legend is true then." **What? He knows about that?**

"How do you know about that?" Morgan asks in a low voice. The others have gone silent as well from hearing this.

"It wasn't that hard to figure it out. I have to say I'm quite impressed that you are the beast tamer woman…it's very interesting. Yes you make a fine addition to my crew."

"What do you plan on doing with this information now?" **When did Christopher**- "You realize that we won't hold back if you try to harm Reisaki; so what do you plan on doing now?"

"Harm her, oh no she is the one who controls you; there is no reason to harm her. You'll make fairly good weapons for me to use."

"Not if we escape first…"

"Unfortunately for you at the moment we have set sail; there is no way off this ship for you. So in the mean time you are now all my prisoners; at least until you master changes her mine."

"You will not keep us here for long." Christopher says coldly.

"I wonder… I am interested in something woman. You are able to control them yet at the same time you can talk to other animals just how many can you control at once?"

"I don't control anyone!" I shout from over Morgan's shoulder.

"Hmpf… well we can fix that later. In the mean time your pets will be going back in their cells and you Miss beast tamer will be staying in this room." Rai comes closer making the others resume their growling; Morgan grips me tighter as I cling to him even more.

"Back off…!" Morgan growls and a second later Christopher grabs hold of captain Rai's wrist gripping it tightly so tight in fact that Rai actually cringes. Christopher's eyes are as cold as a real wolf's as stares the captain in the eye. The next minute he pushes Rai back slamming into the wall.

"Our mistress stays with us; we're not about to leave her here with you."

There's a moment of silence; but Rai seems to take the situation into consideration. He sneers,

"I hope you like your new bed room then woman."

"Anata o nejikomu." I say to him before leaving with the others. The mate of the ship escorts us back to below the deck and into a dark dank jail cell. Both Christopher and Morgan have changed back to wolves by now. When we're all in the cage like cell the bar doors close with a mighty screech. It seems green in here and it smells really bad. As soon as my legs buckle on me the others crowed around me resting in different places as I make sure they're all ok. Christopher is the first to find my lap laying on it with all his weight. The others huddle around either resting near me or placing their heads on my shoulders.

"Are you guys alright?" I ask

"Idiot, worry about yourself first." Eduardo says with hidden relief.

"Sorry." Morgan stands in front of me with a serious look on his wolf face,

"Did he touch you?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure."

"Please don't lie if he did Reisaki." **Christopher…**

"He didn't…I mean he slapped me but other than that no…why are you being so insistent about this Morgan?"

"It's my job to make sure not just as your friend but as the Alpha as well. We all have a responsibility to stay by you but me more so than the others. If I don't act accordingly than the others can't act as strongly as I do." **I see that would explain the serious Morgan back when I was sick…and even back when Toma was attacking me too. I'm glad I didn't read too much into it. But… Christopher. It almost seemed as though he acted on his own… I don't think I ever saw him like that before; he seemed genuinely angry, furious even. It was a side I have never seen before…**

"Thank you… not just as you…how you seem to make it sound your charge but as your friend too. I'm glad you're looking out for me so loyally and everything but as I have explained before you guys aren't my property or weapons even for my protection… you're my friends. Please try not to think of yourselves as anything other than my friends." Morgan's expression softens slightly hearing that. In fact I can feel the air around us slightly relax as well.

"…Sorry. Haha guess we did get a bit carried away."

"Captain I don't thin now is the best time to be laughing…" Nathan says.

"Yeah you're right… as of right now we're prisoners and it seems as though it's going to be that way for quite a while. Or at least until we get off this ship."

"How are we going to get off here?" I ask curiously, "Any way I can help?"

"I'll let you know if there is for right now we need to try gathering information to figure a way out of here. That Rai is going to do anything and everything he can to keep us here as soon as possible; we need to act faster. In the mean time, I'm sure he'll be wanting to use you for certain things Reisaki so Christopher is going to be with you in the mean time. Kind of like a bodyguard. That way no one will get any funny ideas about you."

"Ok…" **actually I don't mind that idea. I would feel safer with one of them around. I wonder if he's ok though…he seemed really upset when they were facing Rai…aside from Morgan, he was the only other one who changed in front of him and even spoke to him.**

"Reisaki." My lap feels lighter as Christopher stands up. "Let me take a look at your cheek it looks a bit red from when Rai hit you." As the others talk with Morgan about what to do Christopher changes into a human to inspect my cheek. Placing a hand on my check he makes sure to be gentle as he looks at it. "Your hair..." he says still looking at the mark on my face,

"What?"

"It's messy." His voice seems so soothing to me like I hadn't know before. My heart begins to relax because of it.

"He grabbed it a couple of times… and used it to…pull me back and forth…" I feel his hand twitch at that, "Are you mad…that I didn't say so…?"

"At him yes, at you no, not so much." He inspects my head as well making sure there's nothing wrong with it. "There will be a bruise here," he touches my cheek, "But aside from your head being sore for a bit there's nothing wrong."

"I seem to be causing you all nothing but trouble… " I hug my knees to my chest, "I'm sorry I can't fight or anything; you and everyone else seem to always be saving me. I must seem totally helpless to you guys." A warm, big hand rests gently on my head and I look at Christopher's kind eyes,

"That's not true; you were able to help the animals back in the forest and when they attacked the village and you were also able to fend off both Toma and Rai until we were able to get to you. You're pretty strong. " he says that so casually that it makes me blush. "You're not a burden to us Reisaki so don't worry about that."

"You know…I was kind of surprised by you." He looks at me questioningly, "You stood up to Rai; I was actually kind of shocked." I can't look him directly in the eyes saying it

"Did I scare you?"

"N-no I wasn't scared of you I just…I don't think I've ever seen you that mad before. I thought you were all smiles it was actually kind of fun seeing that side of you." **W-wait what did I just say?**, "I-I mean…you know it was interesting seeing you act so aggressive- I mean territorial- I mean-! Um I uh…I mean it was just- er wait what am I saying?" he pats my head smiling kindly,

"Calm down I know you didn't mean anything by that." He laughs at me, "Heehee you're cute when you get flustered like that." I feel my cheeks turn even redder,

"Don't tease me please…that was really embarrassing."

"Mh, sorry Mistress." He changes back to a wolf and rest his head on my lap, "do you mind?"

"Uh-uh." For a while we are given some quiet time while the others talk. Christopher occasionally adjusts his head on my lap as I stroke his fur and a spot in the middle of his head that he seems to like. It makes his ears twitch every so often but in a good way and I catch a pleasing look on his face. Before he dozes off I say, "Thank you, for protecting me." he doesn't answer with words but a kind smile as he falls asleep. **It's strange, it seems different with Christopher than it was with Morgan. I mean he was protective and I saw a different side of him that day too just like how I saw a different side of Christopher today. But Christopher seem to have more effect I guess, I feel really relaxed right now with him here. With Morgan it was unusual sort of… but I could tell all he was doing was what he said earlier, his job. Not that he doesn't think of me as a friend it just feels different. Morgan seems more like a father or caring older brother as strange as it may sound to me. Wonder what that means.**

The others finish their conversation and come over to me laying down next to me. I lean my head against one of he bars uncomfortably before I try closing my eyes. Yet nothing seems to work to help me to fall asleep. The rocking of the ship doesn't help either as I being to feel seasick as well. Eventually I move trying to lay down with out waking Christopher but it doesn't work and he ends up lifting his head. As I try my best o get comfortable I shiver from the cold and can even feel the others around me shake slightly. My clothes feel somewhat wet as I move about and realize the floor is damp giving off a mossy smell. They don't seem to take very good care of the ship. The others move closer trying to get warm as well. Christopher makes his way to his regular spot trying to get as close as possible.

"Move your head." I hear Eduardo say and I lift it up as asked, he lays down before commanding me to rest my head on him. Snuggling up together helps to keep warm and soon everyone is able to fall asleep. Still looking around I find a window with the glow of the moon coming through and stare at it.

"You should go to sleep." I hear Christopher say. "Something tells me you'll need it for to morrow." I look into Christopher's deep brown eyes, "What's bothering you?" I don't answer him only hide my face in his fur before closing my eyes hiding the tears forming. "Reisaki…" he places his head on top of mine and I'm finally able to calm down falling asleep. There was nothing else that I could do except sleep and wait for what as in store for me to morrow.


	9. Chapter 9

Ok guys…with the end of the school year and exams coming up this will be the last chapter for a little bit. I also got my other stories to update as well. So hope you enjoy and look forward to the next chapter.

Hogo Kurisutofā (Protective Christopher) Part 2

Sleeping was not very successful considering we were swaying up and down and I wasn't used to that nor the salty sea air that. I was feeling queasy the entire time. When I finally did get to sleep a metal clang woke me the next moment as a crewmember purposefully wakes us all while it's still dark out.

"Rise and shine girly and flea bags; got some food for you." He tosses the food through the bars so it lands on the floor making it less edible for any of us to eat. Looking more closely the food looked to be made of rotten grapes and other fruit and stale moldy bread along with some unusual looking meat. I say nothing to him only try laying back down to get some sleep. The others either not bothered by the man or just not wanting to eat follow my example. "Come on if you don't eat you'll get sick." Again neither of us respond or react to the comment. Something suddenly pokes my head as the member tries to get my attention, "Come on get up already. With all the noise you were making yesterday you seemed to be quite the girl. Don't tell me you lost that nerve. That wouldn't be really fun." Christopher stands up slightly growling at the man. I stand trying to head for the corner of the jail cell farthest away from the crew member but suddenly feel my hair being yanked on making me fall back. "You know you really are cute…"

"K- Kieru!" Christopher wastes no time in biting the hand griping my hair, biting quite hard in fact. He yanks the man's arm out of its socket thrashing it back and forth between the cell bars before letting it go. By now I've made my way into the corner hugging my knees to my chest glaring at the man as the pain is caused to him. the others also watch the show with stoic looks planted on their faces. "That's enough Christopher…you can let him go now." I say reluctantly and instantly Christopher returns to his kind demeanor as I allow him to rest on my lap again. The crew member only looks at us as we sit in the shadows, "We won't be broken that easily…" I say as he stares at me with a mixture of fear and shock. Eduardo, Nathan and Russell getting either angry, irritated or both charge at the barrier between them and the man making him get up and dash for safety. Still feeling exhausted I lay back down with the others huddling around me. Christopher places himself in front of me keeping my sight from what others may come before laying down next to me. I fall asleep slowly some how the rocking which made me feel sick also served to help me get some sleep. With the rotting food scent invading my nose and the others as well none of us are able to really fall sleep.

"Pst!" my eyes open to see fur and thinking nothing of the sound I try to fall asleep again.

"Miss Reisaki there's someone here…"

"Don't bother with it Thomas; it doesn't deserve our attention." Eduardo says coldly. Using my arms for support I look up to see a somewhat kinder looking crewman. He has an eye patch over his right eye where a scar is peaking out of and the other is blue. His black hair is pulled back and off his neck creating a small pony tail. He seems older than the first one I met.

"Hey, come here girl." He says in hushed tones but he doesn't sound mean like the others. As he comes closer to the cell he looks around to make sure no one is around before pulling out a few bread rolls, a bundle of grapes and a decent sized slab of meat. He looks down at the messy floor of rotten food, "I see you've experienced the Black Larka's hospitality towards prisoners…" he looks back and forth between the wolves beside me. "So which one did it?"

"Did what?" I ask folding my arms,

"I'm talking about busting up Gale's arm; he was wailing his head off how one of your friends tore his arm apart."

"Did your friend mention that he tried to grab me?"

"No but I figured that was what happened…personally I think it was funny." I point to the black wolf calmly staring at the man,

"Christopher is the one who did it. He may seem nice but I've come to learn he has a but of a mean streak when he needs to use it."

"Good that's going to come in handy while you're here." He kneels and places the food on the floor between the bars for us to get to. "Here eat this. It's not much but it's better than rotten food." I eye him doubtfully. "I know this must seem strange but I'm on your side. I know what it feels like to be forced onto this ship."

I stand and cautiously head up to the bars to meet this man claiming to be a friend.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Jacob; just like you I was forced onto this ship as well. Rai is not one to give people a choice."

"How do I know that I can trust you?"

"I don't expect for you to trust me right away but I am going to try and help you get off this ship." I look down at the food on the ground, "It's not poisoned or anything."

"That just makes it even more suspicious." I hear Eduardo say.

"You don't have to eat it if you don't want to but I figured it would help." He leaves before someone finds out he's here leaving me and the others still suspicious of him. I look down at the food and set aside my pride picking it up. I break it apart and sniff the bread first to see if some sot of natural herbs were added to it that could have been used as poisons and the others check to see if anything else could be off. Everything seemed to checkout fine and I start to break up the food as evenly as possible among us. It wasn't much in the end but it at least helped to curb our hunger.

Again I'm woken up by the sound of the gate creeping open and someone standing in the way. The right hand of the captain stands in the opening gesturing for me to follow him. I look back at the others with a knowing look in my eye. While the others try to look around as much as they can here in the cell; Christopher and I are to memorize what we can of the ship when let out. It had been a few days a week at most since we were captured and had plenty of time to come up with this for a plan. It was the only thing we could do for the moment seeing as how the others were still being held up in the cell. As we follow the right hand, I notice Christopher on edge as he stares at the passing crew members making sure they maintain a distance. Gale, the one Christopher bit maintains his distance by staying up against the wall. After climbing up the stairs, the light burns my eyes after being in the dim jail cell for quite a while. There I find Jacob, someone who has been sneaking food for me and the others to eat, and others on deck. Off in the distance there is an island painted with different colors of green. Besides trees I can see formations that look like ruins. Rai shouts orders as I make my way over to the only person on this ship that I can somewhat trust.

"What's going on Jacob?"

"We are getting ready to head over to that island. That was our initial goal before we heard about you on Yamato. There's apparently a treasure located on this island."

"So why am I needed?"

"That's the thing, this treasure is known as the griffon's golden eye. It's a gold gem that was said to be guarded by a mythical creature called a griffon."

"What's a griffon?"

"A creature that is a mix between a lion and a bird."

"But if it's a legend why am I needed?"

"In case the griffon is there; the captain wants you to force it to give us the treasure."

"I…I don't force animals to do what I want; my…I mean it doesn't work like that. I can't will animals to do what I want them to do." Christopher leans against me trying to help calm my nerves. "I can't DO what he wants me to do." Jacob looks down at Christopher,

"Then you're going to have to find a way to escape when we get to the island."

"No!" I answer rather quickly.

"But-"

"We're not leaving the others here."

"Then he better be ready to protect you when Rai comes after you."** Comes after me…?**" soon crew members including me are picked to get on the row boat to head to the island.

…

Rai's right hand makes sure to stay close to me as he keeps an eye on me while Christopher keeps an eye on him standing in the way between us. Many animals try to come to me but I warn them to stay away from these people that they aren't like me. We come to a cliff as Rai begins to start climbing up. The others start following him.

"Can you climb in that form?" I ask the wolf by me.

"We climbed up cliffs like this back in the forest. It should be fine. Will you be fine?"

"Yes."

"If you start to feel tired let me know." I can't help but smile at his kindness.

"I'll be fine Christopher. I'm more worried about if we find that treasure…" I admit honestly,

"You're talking about the griffon…"

"I'm hoping it's not real, as disappointing that would be. If it is…"

"You're afraid of what may happen if you can't reason with it." I nod.

"My ability only allows me to talk to animals; with that gift I try to earn their trust and befriend them. It was never about controlling them."

"Then don't try to control it; just do what you normally do. You earned our trust right?"

"That was different you silly wolf." I laugh a bit. I look up at the cliff still thinking about the griffon that could possibly be waiting on the other side. My heart feels somewhat cold as I try to convince myself to move forward but my legs remain as stone. A human Christopher suddenly stands in front of me catching me off guard. My face feeling hot I trip stepping backwards; strong arms catch me and I feel myself floating as I'm being carried. "C-Christopher!"

"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you."

"D-Don't do that; you always tease me…!" I whine.

"I'm sorry." Feeling my self calm down he only stares at me, "what?"

"You're as red as a tomato." He smiles kindly,

"Christopher….c'mon already… stop teasing me."

"Do you feel better now?" he asks as he sets me down.

"What?"

"I didn't mean to make you mad I was just trying to help take your mind off the situation for a moment." The cold feeling in my chest is gone now and I feel a little more relaxed. Nodding I smile at him.

"Thank you Christopher…" he pets my head gently before we hear from above,

"Get moving woman!" Rai shouts,

"I'm usually pretty tolerant of people like him but for some strange reason he causes me to lose all my patience…" Christopher says, now back to being a wolf, looking rather annoyed.

"I don't think it's just you… the others don't like him either." I say before we too start climbing up to the top.


	10. Chapter 10

Hogo Kurisutofā (Protective Christopher) part 3

Climbing to the top wasn't really the hard part nor the creepy part. It's the ruins that now stand before us that are sending shivers up and down my body from head to toe. Christopher sniffs the ground trying to see if anything is out there; he apparently doesn't like the atmosphere this place is giving off either. However he can't seem to find anything.

"Split up and search the area for a path way." Rai orders, "Jacob keep an eye on the woman."

"The woman has a name…" I mumble. Christopher nudges me,

"Now isn't the time to be griping about that. Besides I don't really want to see him come after you like before. So please try not to get too noisy."

"Sorry."

"Reisaki." Jacob comes over, "I'm about to go over there to check out the area; come with me." he leads the way as we follow him to his destination. There's a staircase that leads underground. "This way."

Underground there's ruins as well. Just like the rubble from above the ruins seems to be made of some unusual black rock. The engravings on the stones are painted gold. A mural comes into view with the help of light streaming in from above. The first painting shows the natives who used to live here walking to a mountain; it seemed simple enough to follow. The next picture showed the natives reaching the top of the mountain. At the top there was a massive creature waiting for them. It looked like it's head was hidden in shadow but it looked like a giant lion with wings and it looked as though there was something glowing in it's paw. My only guess can be that it was the treasure that belonged to what I thought to be the griffon. Soon the natives bow down to the creature looking as though they offer up prayers to it like some sort of god. After that the land seems to grow more fertile for the natives to be able to use for harvesting; but because one of the selfishness from one of the natives who tried to take the object that the griffon protected. The griffon used the treasure to cast the land into a time of famine and cursed the natives to death. The griffon still remains on the cliff to this day guarding its treasure.

"I guess this is where the treasure is." I hear Jacob comment. He sighs, "My little girl would love to have seen this."

"You have a daughter?" I ask wide eyed.

"Yes back on Sheva island." **Sheva island that land is half way across the world…what is Jacob doing al the way out here if he has a daughter?** "Come on lets go back and tell the captain what we found."

"Hold on a minute." I stop him. "You have a daughter….yet you chose to sail under Rai. Why?"

"Because I didn't choose, the choice was made for me."

"What do you mean?"

"Later…we need to go."

"But-"

"Reisaki, please don't ask me anything else." The pain in his voice makes me give up on asking anything else,

"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to be nosy."

"It's alright. Let's go." Back on the surface Jacob tells the others about the mural and the location it suggested that we had to go to in order to find the treasure. I can't help but think about what happened with Jacob just now and wander around the ruins not too far away.

"I don't think it's a good idea to go after the treasure Christopher."

"Because of the Mural? I was thinking the same thing. There are some treasures you shouldn't mess with."

"I wonder how the others are doing."

"I'm sure they're fine. They're probably still figuring out a way to get us out of here." He looks up at me, "What did you see when they took us to the deck? Can you remember?"

"Sort of. There was a different path on our right that I thought I smelled food coming from. That must be where the kitchen is. We also seemed to take a few turns here and there before we got to the stairs that went to the deck."

"Good. What else?"

"Um…?" I honestly can't remember anything else.

"Did you catch the scent of herbs?"

"Mm-mm. what kind?"

"The kind used for medical reasons. When we had turned to the left I remember smelling those herbs which means their medical facilities should be down that hall as well. It was down the hall we took just before reaching the deck. Also there was the faint sound of the men down below us meaning their sleeping quarters are most likely below us. There was also a clanging I heard on the floor with them; it's safe to assume that their cannons and other weapon supplies are down there as well."

"You got all that from one trip?" I ask astonished.

"I've had practice."

"I guess…" **wow Christopher sure is in tune with his surroundings.** "How do you do that?"

"As I said practice; you just focus your senses on the environment around you."

"Easy for you to say, you've been a wolf for how long now?" I pout playfully forgetting about the trouble we are actually in. I find myself at ease with Christopher as we continue to joke around. That is until a force suddenly hits me from behind making me hit the ground.

"Reisaki!" There's a pain in my back as I get up on my hands and knees. Turning around I find Rai staring at me annoyed.

"Just where were you going?"

"Nowhere. I stayed close by."

"Not close enough; I think you're forgetting the position that you're in." Rai comes closer reaching out for me again. Christopher stands in the way letting off a low threatening growl. Rai stops in his tracks. "Hmpf, make sure you stay where you belong." He turns around, "Jacob I told you to watch."

"Sorry captain…it won't happen again." the captain walks passed him calling out,

"We're heading up the mountain; get moving." Christopher comes to make sure that I'm not hurt and I wrap my arms around his neck. The sudden attack makes me realize that I'm still a prisoner. **Jacob did nothing…he didn't even try to stop the captain let alone call out to give me a warning…** I sense a presence hovering over me.

"Are you alright Reaisaki?" I feel Jacob place a hand on my shoulder,

"Don't touch me!" his hand leaves. "You didn't even try and help…! You didn't even tell me he was coming…! You said nothing!"

"I didn't know he would-"

"As cruel and unforgiving as he is…you didn't think he would do that?!" I snap looking him in the eye, "Just leave me alone… I don't want your help."

"I'm sorry I just-"

"Don't…you've done enough. Just leave me alone." I race off to catch up to the crew.

…

The forest dark as it would be if the day were actually twilight. The terrain has become even harder to tread as we climb higher on the mountain. Even though I have to stop a few times the captain won't let me nor any one else who may need a break. Jacob does nothing to help the situation only urges me politely to continue. By the time we are able to stop on the captains orders, my lungs feel as though they are on fire and my legs feel like jelly. I'm not even sure if I'll be able to get up again. everyone starts eating as they take their break and I have to look away in order to not remind my empty stomach of the light breakfast I had to share with the others today. I try to tell Christopher to go hunt for himself but he refuses firmly placing his head on my lap as we rest.

"Here…." A piece of dried meat is placed in front of my eyes along with a piece of bread and cheese. Looking up I find Jacob, "You should eat as well."

"Oh now all of a sudden you care." I say sarcastically.

"You sure are stubborn aren't you?"

"No I just don't know if I can trust you is all." I take the food and snap my head away from him,

"Reisaki please I-" Christopher growls lightly warning him to go away as I tear the meat in half and give it to him along with the bread and cheese.

"Why is it that you're here?" I can't help but ask Jacob.

"What?"

"You said you had a daughter back where you're from, so why are you here when you should be there taking care of her?" he sighs with a pained look on his face. "If she can't even trust you to be there like a father how am I supposed to trust you, how are any of us to trust you."

"I did 't have a choice when it came to leaving."

"Everyone has a choice."

"I didn't; just like you." The look on his face seems to be a mix of anger and pain as he glares at me. "I don't expect for you to trust me completely but I do expect for you to know when I'm telling the truth or a lie about something like that. You and I BOTH know the cruelty of Rai and that he will stop at nothing to get what he wants." My anger wilts as I watch him lecture me. "Trust me if you want or don't that's your decision. However I suggest you make it quick before you and your friends have no chance of leaving." With that he gets up and leaves me alone.

"I think I struck a nerve I shouldn't have Christopher."

"I think so…I know we only just met him but just now I believe we can actually trust him."

"It's not that I don't want to…with everything that's happened I just…" I grip my hair in an attempt to keep hold of reality, "This is just too crazy."

"Calm down Reisaki… that's one thing we can't do right now. Panicking in these kinds of situations is the worst thing we can do. We have to stay calm." **I really am useless…here I am losing my mind not knowing who to trust on this ship. All Christopher is doing is babysitting me…I have to get ahold of myself. Not to mention all I've done is lash out at Jacob without even asking him why he was actually here. They must have done something to his daughter. Even if he was forced how long has he been on this ship? For all we know he's just trying to get close to us because the captain wants him too. But at the same time his eyes are filled with so much pain and sadness…I don't know what I'm supposed to believe. **I take a deep, shaky breath and let it out slowly,

"I'm sorry Christopher… the only thing I seem to be good for is being helpless right now. Aside from you and the others I can't make out who's friend and who's foe anymore. I hate this." I place my knees to my chest and close my eyes trying to forget the passed few days like they never even happened. I can't help but feel like it's my fault that we're all in this mess; all I did was give up. I didn't want the others to get hurt and Rai used that against me. **Am I really that weak…? That I can't think of a way to get out of a situation like that? **

Suddenly a warmth wraps around me and I feel someone's hand force my head to press against a bare chest. The rate my heart is thumping has officially reached a new high as Christopher gently holds me. My cheeks feel so hot right now they feel as though hot peppers have been placed under them. Hearing his heart beat makes mine calm down as I find myself at a lost for what to do.

"How can I make you understand that you're not a burden?" suddenly he holds my face up by bringing it up placing a finger under my chin, which in turn makes me go even redder, "You're not a burden nor an inconvenience for us. It's only understandable that you're finding it hard to trust others right now. Although apologizing may be a good idea still Jacob understands that we, more importantly you have been put into a difficult position with all of this. There's no reason to come down on yourself." **Not that they're not comforting words and I'm glad he said that….but… **

"Uh…Christopher?"

"Yes Mistress?"

"You do realize you're in your human form right now right?" he looks this way and that but seems completely unphased by what I just told him. "Some people are staring."

"And?"

"And…that doesn't bother you?"

"What's bothering me is not seeing my mistress' pretty face with a smile on it." **does he even realize how much of a…charmer he can be? That smile…it should be a crime.**

"I can't even come up with something to that…that was not fair." He hugs me close to him again, our cheeks touching as he rubs his cheek against mine loving like the wolf he is.

"Is my Mistress mad now?"

"I was never mad to begin with."

"That's a relief." He squeezes a little tighter, before letting go "Hee hee, Misstress can I ask you something. It will help in a sense, keep me calm."

"Keep you calm? But you don't even look as though you're stressed in the slightest."

"But I am; my heart has been going crazy this entire time. You just didn't notice it." **well if it's something I can do to help…**

"Ok what is it?"

"Can you give me a reward?" **HHHHUUUHHHHH?!**

" N-n-n-n-n-n-naniiiiiiiiiiiiiiii? S-s-Suru wa hōshō ni yotte nani o imi shite?"_(A.N. translation: what? What kind of reward?)_

" What does that mean….Reisaki why did you go all red? Your eyes are all wide too." **Did he seriously just ask me that? What kind of reward does he have in mind? I mean Christopher seems innocent enough but aren't those the ones you have to watch out for…or wait was it the quiet ones? **"You're too cute Misstress but if it's alright can I get my reward now?"

"Ch-ch-Chottomatte! Watashi wa seishintekini junbi shite inai yo….!" _(A.N. translation: Whoa, I'm not prepared for this!)_I've forgotten that we're in public right now and that I've been speaking the Yamato ancient language. Christopher moves close; as a result my heart begins to go even faster. **Wait wait wait! I don't know what he wants! What kind of reward is he wanting? This is way too sudden and-! Eh?** Something rests on my legs and when I look down I find a wolf looking up at me pleadingly yet kindly,

"Can you pet me again like you did back in the cell that one night. It was that spot on the top of my head." **THAT'S what he wants as a reward? Christpoher…you knew exactly what you were doing didn't you?**

"Christopher…"

"Yes mistress?" he gives a kind smile that makes it so I can't even get mad at him and I let out a sigh before slightly tugging on his ear as 'punishment',

"Don't think you can get away with teasing me like that every time you do it."

"I'm sorry Reisaki but I don't know what you're talking about."

"Fine be that way…now was it here that you were talking about?" I try the spot in the center of his head like I did the last time and he nudges into my hand insisting that I rub it more.

"Yes that's it. It was really nice just like now."

"Really? Then what about here?" I move to the back of his left ear and scratch it,

"Mmm….it's ok but not as nice as the other spot."

"Then how about…?" I move to the center of the back of his neck just above his shoulder blades before he slightly jumps.

"The other spot is fine, thank you though." he says rather quickly. **Wait…don't tell me…**

"Are you ticklish there Christopher?"

"What?"

"You are aren't you?"

"What would make you say that Reisaki?"

"Oh, so you're not?"

"No, I'm not."

"Really then why don't we test it just to be sure." Slowly I reach over and…

"No please don't; alright you win."

"pft… I knew it."

"That wasn't really nice teasing me like that you know."

"And your one to talk?" for the rest of the time I pet Christopher while we talk until it's time to leave again.

…

We finally reach the place indicated by the mural where a pedestal or alter looking thing but nothing else seems to be around. There are a few skeletons on the ground near the pedestal and one looks slightly familiar. Rai has us split up into groups and Jacob takes care of looking after me again which turns out to be a bit uncomfortable. Christopher seems to be a bit more on edge since we've gotten here. I can't help but feel as though we're being watched. Yet looking this way and that I can't find anything looking at us and Rai is busy looking around too.

"Captain over here!" someone calls back at the pedestal. Looking closer at it the pedestal it looks as though it's a giant nest of some sort. Something shines inside and it definitely catches the eye of the captain.

"That must be the treasure. Alright one of you get it." **that's not a good idea.**

"I-I don't think you want to be doing that…sir." I try to stay polite as I speak. I notice Jacob shaking his head like crazy as the captain turns his attention to me.

"And why is that woman?" I swallow the lump down my throat as I decide to leave Jacob out of this,

"I found a mural depicting a story. Those who touch that treasure are met with a terrible fate. That's what happened to the people of this land. They got greedy for the Griffon's treasure and it led to ruin. If you try touching that treasure it won't be pretty." Rai looks at me with anger in his eyes,

"You think some mural will dictate me? You think that what you say will change my mind?" in an instant Rai has a hold of me by the neck, "The treasure is mine woman! No one will get in my way of it; not even you!" Christopher jumps up nicking his arm and causing the captain to let me go. As I gasp for needed air as Christopher Stands in front of me growling, "Filthy mutt!" Rai tries kicking him,

"Captain, please." I turn to look and see… **Jacob? **"This doesn't solve anything…if you harm her she won't be able to stop the griffon if it even shows up. Please this once, show mercy." Rai gives Jacob a deathly glare before releasing himself from Jacob's grip.

"Be grateful woman; he just saved you from punishment." Rai walks away as Jacob come over,

"Thank you."

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

"Woman!" I tense as I hear Rai yell for me, "If you're so worried about a few stupid paintings then you take the treasure from the pedestal." He gives me an evil look as he smiles. My blood goes cold as I continue to feel something watching us. Suddenly there's a terrible shriek from above us and I have to cover my ears. A gust of wind blows us all back. Landing on my back I find that I don't hit the ground but Christopher does.

"Are you ok?!" he pulls me back down and shields me from the wind as a shadow passes over us. There's another screech before a big thud shakes the ground.

"Black hearted thieves! Who dares try to steal what is mine?" Christopher finally lets me up when the wind stops. Everyone including Rai stares in awe at the beast before us. The griffon is at least as big as a full grown grizzly bear if not bigger with wings that glitter in the sunlight. Just as depicted in the mural and what Jacob said it has the body of a lion and talons sharp dig into the pedestal. Its head maintains that of a bird even the beak. If it wasn't for the fact that Rai was here and he wasn't here to steal the treasure I would love this moment; but now we're about to steal from it and Rai is expecting for me to control it and force it to give use the treasure. Its has placed it's paw over the very treasure he wants protectively as it stares at us almost as if judging us. "Who dares to steal from me?!" it shrills once again as I hear what it has to say. Frozen in fear I can't even say anything back.

"What are you waiting for?" once again he pulls on my hair as Rai pulls me forward and I stumble alone towards the Griffon.

"Reisaki!" I look back to see Christopher being held back by two crew members. Now matter how much he struggles they're able to keep him back much more easily in his human form. Looking back at the griffon it starts to sink in that I'm alone on this one. With shaky legs and everything else I stand up and slowly make my way to the griffon. One I'm close enough to the pedestal the griffon jumps down and brings itself closer to me.

"A female human…is this some sort of trick? You insult me if you mean to soften my heart."

"I-I'm not here to deceive you…I honestly do not even wish to be here." I swallow hard trying to choose my words wisely. **One slip up…just one and I'll be killed by it…** "The others behind me…except for two of them they are the ones who brought me here."

"…Interesting…a human who can understand the tongue of the beasts." He begins to circle me slowly as he speaks, "I once trust humans, female, those who did not understand me, you being able to understand me only makes it more suspicious. Why are you here?" it demands

"Not for my own reasons. I am merely a tool at the moment."

"A tool…I wonder about that. I was once used as a tool. Using what was mine to give life to this land so the humans could thrive; I accepted this and was treated as a deity. Until one day a black hearted human decided to take what was mine for himself and use it to rule his people. I fell for human tricks once; I shall not fall for them again!" it reels back and in and instant stomps on the ground causing me to trip and land on my back as I curl into a ball trying to shield myself from him.

"Don't you touch her!" the griffon looks up as I hear Christopher shout.

"A strange reaction…I wonder what would happen if I were to press any further." The wind is knocked out of me as the griffon stills me with a paw being careful not to gouge me with it's talons. It watches as Christopher continues to shout at it.

"P-please…I'm not…I'm not trying to hurt you. I'm not the one who wants…your treasure. The one with the hat on his head….h-he's the one who wants it." I gasp. The griffon doesn't seem to listen as it continues to watch Christopher, "I-I saw the mural that told the story." the griffon looks down at me as I say this, "I don't want to repeat what happened…I tried telling him of this…he threw it aside."

"Enough… I have heard enough of your Human lies." He raises his other paw. "I will end this starting with you." He doesn't get the chance as a black wolf jumps onto the griffons face. The griffon releases me as it moves back trying to shake him off. He flings Christopher off near me; he recovers and stands over me as the griffon stalks over to us. As it watches Christopher as he snarls and barks at the beast that is clearly bigger than him.

"Strange…just a moment ago you were human…what sort of trick is this?"

"Don't come any closer!"

"Are you telling me you would die to protect this female? If I wanted to I could shred you to pieces, snap you in half, I could even skin you alive…and yet you are willing to sacrifice yourself for her?"

"Yes…" **Christopher…** the griffon comes down to meet us both at eye level,

"I see…that is what it is…hmpf. I sense no blackness within either of you…my treasure is now yours." With that the griffon flies off into the sky leaving the shining treasure in its nest. After he allows me to sit up, I pet Christopher in the spot he likes before hugging him. Everything seems to slow down as I continue to hold onto Christopher; relief sets in and my tears begin flow as I try to stop them. Fur turns to skin and I find my face buried in a shoulder. Arms wrap around me once again and my body relaxes even more,

"It's alright now. You don't have to hide it from me mistress." **He's always protecting me…it's like Christopher is my own personal guardian. **As the crew helps the captain get the treasure and Jacob watches us from a distance I silently cry in my closest friends arms.


	11. Chapter 11

**Jeikobusu monogatari (Jacob's Story)**

It's been a few days since the griffon gave us the treasure. The others and I still live in the hole they call a jail cell. Whenever they bring me out Christopher still comes with me and we do our best to try and find a way off this ship. By now they've taken me out to at least get used to the ship before throwing me back in with the others. When ever I did get that time I tried to learn by observing, staying out of the way and keeping quiet. We haven't made it to port yet so we still don't know when that is to happen but we're learning their routines and habits. Christopher is keeping a close eye on Rai learning how he runs things on the ship. The cook suddenly shouts signaling for lunch,

"Alright all time to eat; Jacob take the girl back to her cell." Rai commands. It's been a bit tense since that exchange between him and me. I've been trying to think of a way to apologize but my throat tightens on me every time I try to. He still brings food to us but he kind of remains quiet now. As we head down below deck I follow behind Jacob trying to think of a way to start up a conversation.

"Um…" I look down at Christopher silently asking for help but it's not like he can talk to him, at least not in his wolf form.

"Just talk to him…" he tries to urge me gently.

I open my mouth but close it unable to think of something.

"S-so what is Rai going to do with that treasure?"

"Trade it for money I suppose." His answer is short.

"Will we get some time to wander off…?"

"Highly doubt it."

"What will you do?"

"Don't know; I may have to watch you like I did the last time." More silence,

"Um…"

"What?" he's short with me this time his tone sharp and impatient,

"No…nothing." We reach the cell and he opens the door. Christopher enters first while the others stand tails slightly wagging that I'm back safe and sound. I enter the cell and hear the door screech shut behind me. he locks the door and I hear the keys jingle as he places them back in his pocket.

**Come on you scaredy cat. APPOLOGIZE NOW! **

"Jacob…!" I catch him as he walks out the door. "I…I'm sorry about what I said back on the island. I was stressed out and scared of what was going to happen to me and the others… but that's still no excuse as to how I behaved and what I said. It wasn't my place to talk about you nor why you left your daughter. I'm sorry." It's quiet for a few moments before he continues walking,

"I'll be back with your food." My shoulders slump at the words before I go and sit down. the others come over and sit around me with Christopher taking his personal spot on my lap.

"The hell was that all about?" Nathan asks.

"It was when Reisaki and I were taken to the island." Christopher explains what happened and the others listen intently finally figuring out why Jacob was so quiet. Eduardo only smirks,

"Expected of our mistress; way to tell him off."

"It's not funny Eduardo…" I say plainly, "I shouldn't have lashed out at him like that. He was trying to make peace with me and I threw it in his face."

"And what's wrong with that?"

"You're impossible…"

"Guilty as charged."

"So he…doesn't like us any more?" Thomas asks.

"Fine by me; we don't need him at all."

"And who's going to unlock the door for us to this cell Russell?" Nathan silences him,

"Well…"

"It would make it easier for us to escape." Christopher says, "However, that doesn't mean we actually need him to get us out of here."

"Yeah we got Reisaki."

"Excuse me?" I look at Morgan, "Just what does that mean?"

"You ever pick pocket someone before."

"No! I have not! I was never around that many people living near the forest; so it would be safe for you to assume that I have no experience in it." he gives a big toothy grin,

"It was just a thought." He laughs.

"That's not funny…" I feel my cheeks become slightly hot.

"What do you think Doc? You're the one that has to babysit all day when she goes out."

"Did you have to word it like that Eduardo?" I ask knowingly. **Actually with how I acted that day that's actually the best way he could describe it…**

"Don't start Reisaki." Christopher says somewhat stern, "I don't want to have that conversation a third time."

"What conversation?"

"Never mind Eduardo. Anyhow, if I have to I can get the keys from Jacob; I'd rather not use violence but there may not be any other choice."

"Do we have to attack him? I mean if were Rai or even someone else on this ship I wouldn't object but Jacob is different."

"I get where you're coming Reisaki but right now we're prisoners and if he becomes a threat rather than a friend we may not have any choice but to attack." **If he does become our enemy it would most likely be my fault… **

*sigh*

**Well this is just great… **

"Reisaki… what are you thinking?" Christopher looks me straight in the eyes. He has a smile on his face but right now it just seems scary with that tone he just had.

"Nothing…" I smile nervously.

"You're lying."

"I-I am not!" I avert my eyes and spot Jacob standing there. Following my gaze the other look at him at well. He carries a tray of food and as usual we'll have to split it.

"Great…what the hell does he want?"

"Be nice Eduardo." I say.

"You talking about me?" Jacob asks me somewhat kinder this time. I exchange glances with Christopher and the others before looking back at Jacob. "It's alright I don't have any intention of stopping you from escaping."

"Um…thank you." I begin tearing the food and passing it to the others,

"You plan on eating too don't you?"

"Yes but I like to make sure that every one gets something first." The others wait before they take the scraps making sure I get some as well, "I'm fine I got some now will you all eat?" they all eat the shared food and even leave Thomas his share.

"You all really do look after each other." Jacob takes a seat by the cell causing Eduardo to pick up his food quickly in his mouth and moves away to eat in peace.

"Well I will say this: some things never change."

"I do something?"

"No it's not you; Eduardo just doesn't like people in general unless he knows them."

"So only you lot?"

"That pretty much sums it up yes. He does have a soft spot though he just doesn't like to show it." Eduardo's ears go back as he glares at me agitated, "Oh don't get your fur in a bunch would you I'm only teasing."

I try to take a bite of my food when,

"Jenna."

"What?"

"My daughter's name is Jenna." **Ok wasn't expecting that…** "When I left her she was fourteen years old. That was seven years ago. I wouldn't be surprise if she was about to be married now. You wouldn't believe how many boys I had to scare off when I was around. Knowing her grand mother though she's probable got a bit more freedom than I would have given her. Knowing her she would have gone out of her mind with me there." He trails off thinking as he comes his fingers through his hair, "The reason I left her was to save her." my throat tightens at what he says.

"Y-you don't have to tell me this if you don't want to." I say.

"It's fine; you should know just how cruel Rai can actually be and why you all need to get out of here as soon as possible." He takes a moment to think before he starts again, "My wife left us when Jenna was only three so I had to take care of her myself."

"You mean like…she died?"

"No…one day she just up and left us. Not sure why but it doesn't really matter now."

"Oh…sorry."

"It's not your fault. Anyway it was tough at first but Jenna kept me going and if it wasn't for her grandmother I probably wouldn't have stuck around for as long as I did. I was a map maker, charter what ever you want to call it. my job kept me busy because I traveled a lot and I had to leave Jenna home."

"What kind of places did you map out?"

"Unknown places, so places that were hard to navigate through, places on Sheva that others wouldn't normally go without a map. But around when she was thirteen Jenna had finally had enough of me leaving her at home all the time. She was screaming at me to take her with me, that she wanted to help me make maps. She was stubborn about it that much I do know and I was a bit spineless as well. I let her help me but I didn't take her anywhere dangerous. That much she understood. Jenna was actually very clever when it came to guessing what a place would be like. She certainly had a knack for mapmaking. She was smart though, went to school like a good girl so I guess she picked up a thing or two by applying what she learned. Well one day I had taken Jenna with me to go map out a swamp in a near by area." It's silent for a moment or two actually longer than that. Jacob seems to not want to even continue so I try to switch the subject a bit,

"It sounds like you and you daughter were very close…still are. I wish I could say that." I pet Christopher on his head in the place he likes before patting Nathan on the head from his resting spot which seems to be my shoulder for a head rest. "Before I met these guys I was alone for quite some time myself. Back in Yamato I didn't used to live on the side of the island where you all found me. I used to live on the other side. It used to be me and my grandmother…Bachan."

"Did something happen to your family."

"Sort of…I don't even know who my father is and my mother…well lets just say I can somewhat relate to you and your wife."

"She left?"

"More like she dumped me…on Bachan."

"Ah…well no offense to you as a woman but…women can be well…"

"A female dog, a donkey's butt?" using the animal terms seems to make him blush for some reason even though I laugh. "Yeah your right about that… to be honest I wasn't really meant to exist. My mother had me out of wedlock…she's…she had slept with so many different men I'm not even sure she would even be able to determine who my father is." Thomas forces me to move my arm while he crawls under it to sit right beside me. I pat his head and give a smile to let him and the others know I'm fine.

"I see…"

"You don't have to feel ashamed; I'm not. I may not have a very healthy relationship with my birth mother but I had a great one with Bachan. I probably wouldn't be who I am without her today."

"She the reason you met this lot here?"

"I guess you could say that. If I hadn't been with Bachan I wouldn't have been near the forest and if I wasn't near the forest I would never have met them." Jacob stares at me slightly wide eyed.

"I'm surprised at you…"

"What? Why?"

"Even though you're all in a cage right now you still seem to be able to smile." He laughs, "Jenna was like that too. She always was able to find the silver lining in any dark cloud." His smile turns sad before it disappears completely. " You remind me a lot of her…I see so much of Jenna in you. That positive attitude; your love of the outdoors…" Thomas moves from his spot next to me and crawls over to the bars to nudge at Jacobs hand. He reaches through the bars and pats Thomas on the head, "I still wonder sometimes what I could have done differently back then so I wouldn't be here. Even after seeing what lengths Rai went through to get you. I still wonder if she still keeps a positive outlook on life." He sighs, "the day I took her with me into the swamp area Rai was also there. I wasn't sure what he was wanting at first but he had somehow gotten separated from his crew and was aimlessly walking around in the swamp. He was about at his wits end. So my daughter and I led him out of the swamp. I knew there was something about him that was off so I tried to keep him at a distance from Jenna. But I guess that only helped in giving away my weakness. Before we headed back into the swamp Rai took one of the maps I had brought with me and he liked what he saw the maps he thought I could be good at navigating him through Dangerous areas with little loss as possible. I told him no; that I was happy just as a map maker and only that. I had no intention of becoming a pirate."

"He wouldn't take no for an answer would he?"

"Do I even need to answer that question? I should have relocated after that encounter. The look in his eyes said it all. He had no intention of letting me walk away. A few days later I had returned from a trip up in the mountains; the door was off its hinges and I could hear Jenna screaming at someone but I already knew who it was. When I came in he was allowing his men to touch her. I fought them off her and tried to escape with her but there were too many. Eventually they were able to pin us both down. Rai made it clear as to why he was there but still I refused to agree to his terms. But he wouldn't have it. At first I thought he would come after me but as he took out a knife he went over to my daughter." I could just imagine him trying to protect Jenna as best he can. The thought of Rai going after even a little girl makes me swallow hard, "he grabbed a fist full of her hair and chopped it off. Then he placed the knife on her cheek and gave me one last chance to change my mind. I told him I would go so long as they let her go. He wouldn't however, not until we set sail. That was five days from then; those five days felt like a life time…I felt like would lose my mind. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what they were doing to her; what they would do to her. I was a bundle of nerves by the time I got to see her. I couldn't even say goodbye to her when I finally boarded this ship. They held her on the docks to make sure she wouldn't follow and I had to stay on board. I don't even know how she is now…can't even send a homing seagull to her with a message or anything." I look down at the ground covered in slimy moss.

"I understand you leaving in order to protect her…but why haven't you just gone back? Why didn't you just escape at the next port?"

"He had me watched like a hawk and by the time he did trust me enough to be let alone I was to turned around to even know which way Sheva island was." I look at the others and they seem to know what I'm thinking. We were planning on taking the keys from him but…

"What if you could go back would you leave this ship?"

"Even if I wanted to I'm too lost to even know which direction I would need to go in."

"No you're not…you just need to be nudged into the right direction."

"I admire your optimism but speaking figuratively isn't going to help."

"Who said about speaking figuratively?" he looks at me wide eyed and we all look at him with slightly mischievous looks on our face.

"What are you up to?"

"That depends would you rather avoid being mauled by wolves and go home in one piece or stay here under Rai's dictatorship?" he looks back to make sure no one is listening before leaning in closely,

"Are you saying you know how to get to Sheva island?"

"It depends on what port we'll be stopping at next."

"We'll be restocking on supplies in Jinchu island." He answers quickly. The wheels in my head spin as I formulate a plan to get away from Rai and to get Jacob home.

"This couldn't work out more perfectly for us Jacob. Jinchu is so overpopulated with traders and ships heading in and out we'll be able to slip out unnoticed by Rai and everyone else. Not to mention I think I have a way of making it a bit harder on Rai to set sail after us."

"What do you have in mind Reisaki?" Eduardo asks me very curious about the glint I most likely have in my eye,

"How does sweet, sweet revenge sound to all of you?"


	12. side story

**This is a side story that I thought I would try out it takes place right before Rai messes everything up. Hopefully you like it…this was sort of spur of the moment. ^^**

Nomi Furo(Flea Bath)

"Ack!" I smack the back of my neck feeling as though something bit me. Looking at my hand there's nothing there. There's another twinge on my arm and again I try squishing it but again there's nothing there. By now I've caught the attention of the pack of wolves living with me as I can feel them stare at me. **Is it my imagination…? Maybe it's just a coinciden-**

"Yeep!" this time I feel it on my scalp and scratch my scalp to remove what ever is biting me. I stand from my chair red faced with surprise.

"What the hell are you doing?" Eduardo asks annoyed, "Why do you keep freaking out like that?"

"I keep feeling as if something is biting me or something."

"Sure it's not your imagination?"

"Yeah you can be a bit dorky." Nathan agrees with the one eyed wolf.

"No! It's not! I'm telling you something is-Yeek!" again I smack myself on the hand this time and see a little speck land on the table. **Hm? What is that?**

I get closer to the table and see a tiny little insect dead on the table. **A flea? **"EW!" I flick it off the table.

"What was it?" my attention goes to Christopher

"A flea…I might have picked it up from one of the animals in the forest." *Shiver* "I hate fleas the little buggers creep me out… I mean how can something so small cause so much trouble?" Then a thought occurs to me. "…and if there's one flee…that means there are others somewhere else… Kuso! Naze watashi ni? (Damnit, why me?)" Realizing what I need to do I take out a piece of paper and pen and write down ingredients I need to buy for a flea problem. **Let's see…apple cider, salt…baking soda…I'll need to heat up some water when I get back. Um…** (A.N. apparently this is an actual home remedy that someone came up with. here is the site if you want to check it out. . ?topicid=293)

I tense seeing the arm resting on the table from behind me but make no effort to stop them. They each crowd around looking at my list. Thomas poke his head out from under the table in front of my to look at the list.

"What do you need that stuff for Miss Reisaki?"

"To get rid of fleas. It's a remedy Bachan came up with."

"That's supposed to get rid of fleas? How?"

"I don't know Russle; but it works. Bachan used it all the time when we got fleas in the house. All she would do is wash everything down with this mixture and the fleas would be gone. It's good for flea baths too. Sometimes we would get them in our hair and Bachan would use this mix to wash them out with a bath."

"Seems like pretty powerful stuff." Morgan laughs.

"I hate baths." Nathan says with a seriously disgusted look on his face.

"Why do you take baths anyway; you're just going to get dirty again in a few hours." Russell says from my shoulder.

"You all feel that way?" I ask and they all nod in unison. Even Christopher the decent one in the group nods his head as well. "You lot are such babies about the weirdest things…" Standing I pluck the list from the table and go to grab my shoulder bag and a few gold coins.

"Ok you guys watch the place while I'm gone; I'll leave the door open if you want to go out." I say to the group now of wolves. Eduardo sits in the corner scratching his back hard with his hind leg. Sensing me he stops and glares,

"What are you staring at?"

"Looks like you got a case of dry skin." I laugh.

"Leave me a lone; no one asked you."

"Fine, fine. I was just teasing. You can never take a joke about anything…anyway if you like I can try finding something…to…" he glares at me almost asking: are you serious? Do you really think I need anything like that? "…never mind. Bye!" I leave and head out for Naka village. It takes me a moment before I'm able to find the first item on my list but as soon as I find that it's easy to find the rest. Once I finish buying what I need I have a bit more money and use it to buy the guys some very fresh pork. They seem to really like it a lot. Much more than chicken and it seems to rival that of the deer meat I give them or they hunt for. After buying a slab for each of them it's about sunset. Knowing those guys they'll be waiting for me outside the village as usual when I come home at night. Sure enough just as I though once I'm outside the village Thomas is the first to greet me, tail wagging as he jumps on me. Along with him Nathan and Russell came along too. Russell sees the paper wrapping of the butcher and gets excited immediately and sniffs the contents. I pull away right away.

"Uh-uh. Not until we get with the others."

"What is it though Miss Reisaki?" I gently push Thomas off me so he's back on all fours and begin walking.

"You'll see." I wink playfully. Out of the corner of my eye I spot Nathan trying to scratch his head with a paw before rolling around in the dirt. "You got dry skin too?"

"No…just a really bad itch I can't GET." I place the basket and meat down next to him and help him out. After helping him relieve his displeasure he takes the basket and carries it for me. Once home I waste no time in mixing the remedy up. Thomas and Christopher watch me intensely as I take each ingredient and measure it out. As the water heats up I explain what's about to happen,

"So listen you guys may have to stay outside for a while."

"Because of the fleas?" Morgan concludes; I nod.

"It will take a while to cover the entire house and wash everything in here with the remedy. So you'll have to stay out of the house for a while."

"How long is a while?"

"I don't know Russell maybe two…three hours."

"That long?"

"Well yes Eduardo, that long. Medicine doesn't just work with a snap of the finger…it takes time before it stars working. When I took flea baths Bachan had me stay in the remedy bath for at least thirty minutes, sometimes an hour depending on how bad the infestation was."

"Is that why you bought a lot of that stuff; it looked like there was more than you needed."

"Well Morgan if there was one thing Bachan taught me is was that it's better to have too much of what you need rather than too little. Now outside you guys; I'll let you know when you can come back in."

"We could help you miss Reisaki. That way it won't take so long and you won't be so tired." Thomas smiles boyishly at his idea.

"Well next time maybe. Right now I'm already in the mind set to get to it and not stop until it's finally done. If you help me I think I might end up snapping on one of you for no reason. So not this time. But thanks though." Thomas' ears go down,

"Oh...ok."

"But I think I might have something that will keep you guys all interested and entertained for a while." They all seem to look at me intently as I walk back inside and become even more excited when come back out with the meat I got from the butcher still wrapped up in the paper. They all lick their lips or switch their weight from one side to the other as I dangle the package at my side. "I know you guys are my friends but it's nice to spoil you guys like dogs every once in a while. I mean I did find you guys as wolves to begin with." I set down the package and untie the string from around it and take out a big thick slab of a pork chop. That really sets them off, tails wagging and everything. Russell is trying his hardest not to storm up here and take it from me.

"Here you go." I toss the pork chop out by them and Eduardo and Russell both grab it and start a violent tug of war both trying to claw at the other. "Hey, Hey, Hey!" they both look at me, "Stop that I got enough for everyone to have their own." I look at Russell, "Drop it and you can have your own ok."

"Why do I have to drop it?"

"Because you would be the one to actually would talk and drop it. Now here." I toss him a pork chop before I pass the rest out to the others. "Alright, now to get to work… please take those outside so I can get started." One by one they each head out and I begin working. Rolling up my sleeves I begin in the kitchen washing the pots and pans and other dishes I have. Next I mop the floors leaving it all white for the time being along with the walls and other furnishings in the kitchen. The only time I stop is to take a breath, sneeze because of the remedy, or wipe my forehead of sweat. It takes some time to finish the kitchen before I finally move on into the other rooms scrubbing down every inch or the rooms. As I continue to clean there's one instance when I have to shoo the others back outside.

"Miss Reisaki are you ok? You've been in here for a-"

"Bakku ima soto! Watashi wa gaishutsu suru yō ni iwanakatta?!(Back outside now; I thought I told you to stay out)" shouting at them stuns them so much they all stand there. "Oops…sorry…I did say that I would snap though right?"

"Wow…did your grandma teach you that." The one eyed wolf asks with a smug look on his face.

"Well I LIVED with her I was bound pick up something or other from her. She would snap on me for no reason too when I bothered her in the middle of something like this."

"It's a little weird…considering it's you."

"Hey…! Nathan what does that mean?" I whine.

"The way it sounded."

"So rude…" they all laugh at my pouting, "That's it! No more pork for all of you!" I watch as they all tense, "Just kidding."

"Don't kid about that." they seem to understand that I'm too focused to actually stop at all and head back outside. As soon as I finish with the house it's well into the night and I'm exhausted. Before bed though I take a long soak in the remedy as well. I nearly doze off in that. As I head back inside for my bedroom the others are waiting for me.

"You smell funny…" Nathan says as I sit on the bed.

"Too tired to even respond… I'm going to sleep." As I lay down the others take their usual spots around me while Thomas hides under the covers again.

"How do you sleep under there?"

"It's nice and warm miss Reisaki. I like it under here."

"Well suit yourself…" I yawn as big as I can before plopping down on my pillow with a soft thud. Pulling the covers up to my shoulders half asleep I take a deep breath. I look up outside seeing the stars. Finding the moon facing me I realize just how long I had been disinfecting everything. It has to be at least one in the morning. I can understand why they came to interrupt me. Snuggling up closer to Christopher I finally fall asleep.

…

Stirring I find myself scratching my leg under the covers. I try to relax and go back to sleep. But once again my leg is bothering me.

"Thomas…stop tickling my foot." Seeing as how he was the one under the covers I assume it's him.

"Um…Miss Reisaki I'm over here." I realize that the bed is not as full and empty of the normal group of men I normally wake up too every day. My eyes shoot open and I see six wolves sitting in front of me in a line waiting for me to get up. With every muscle tensing I spring out of the bed and look at it. There's tiny specks jumping around all over; and it's not just the mattress. The whole bed including the covers and pillow inside and out are covered with fleas. I swallow hard and look down at my night clothes. Tiny specks jump around on me as well. With everything becoming clear I think I can even feel them in my hair.

"Reisaki, are you ok?" at the moment I'm not sure who asked me that.

"Fleas…Fleas…in my…in my bed…and on my…my clothes…"

"Is she ok?"

"she's talking about those fleas again…"

"I don't even think she can hear us right now."

**I don't get it. I scrubbed this place from top to bottom. How can there still be fleas? This is insane….and their BITING ME! **

"IIIIIIIII need a lake...!" I say scurrying away to the closes body of water I can submerge myself in and jump right into a nearby pond. Even the wild animals come to take a look to see what it is that I am doing. Under water holding my breath, I scrub and scratch my scalp along with the other parts of my body. Finally satisfied I come up for air and see a black wolf staring at me with a concerned look.

"Are you ok?" Christopher asks.

"My house is infested by fleas an I don't know why…other than that I'm fine."

"Then why did you jump into a pond…?"

"To DROWN the little buggers…" I say and pull myself out of the pond. The others wait near by looking at me with interest. Noticing Eduardo wanting to say something I snap on him and say, "Say one word and I'll throttle you in your sleep so hard you won't wake up again!" the others follow as I storm off to.

I just finished changing into some safe clothes and stand in the opening to my bedroom. **I just don't get it…I cleaned this place from head to toe… how did they survive? I have never seen Bachan's remedy fail. They were all over the bed! How did it happen? I know I stripped the bed down and even washed all the other beddings to make sure. So how did they get in here? That mixture should have killed them…hm? **I see Christopher scratching himself as best he can to reach a place on his back. He's trying so hard that he's almost going around in a circle. My eyes widen, remembering that two other wolves were scratching themselves just as much,

**Wait a second… don't tell me…**

"Hey Christopher, can you come here a second. Eduardo, Nathan you too." I inspect Christopher first looking at the top of his head first. It doesn't take me long to find small flecks hopping around.

"Why are you pulling so hard?"

"Sorry am I hurting you?"

"No, it just makes me wonder." As I move down his back I find more and more of the little buggers jumping around on him.

"Next." Christopher moves out of the way and I inspect Nathan in between his shoulders and find more of the fleas on him. "…Alright…Eduardo" I don't even have to look under the fur they're jumping on the surface. With half the group covered in fleas I could only assume that the others had the same epidemic. **Well I'm not that surprised considering they've been in the wild for how long now? **

*Deep sigh*

"What is it Reisaki?" Morgan trots over seeing the look on my face.

"Well…I found out how the fleas got in the house…"

"Really how?"

"You lot." I say flatly.

"Huh?" they all ask in unison.

"Mh-hm, you're ALL covered in fleas. From head to toe and that's how they not only got in the house but also in the bed last night…after all my hard work."

"S-sorry miss Reisaki."

"So that's why I've been itching a lot lately." Russell says.

"well with you guys going out into the forest all the time and everything; I'm not too surprised that you guys have fleas. It was bound to happen sooner or later. It also explains why Bachan's remedy didn't actually work."

"Well I don't see the problem I feel just fine."

"Morgan…you are scratching yourself this very second as we speak." I point to his hind leg for reference.

"Ah…hahahahaha well it's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal? Do you guys even know what fleas can do to a person let alone dogs…wild ones included." They all remain silent as I list off everything I remember Bachan telling me. "Some of the stuff can even cause death too… they can be really dangerous."

"So then what are we supposed to do about them?"

"Right I'm not jumping into a pond like you mistress." Eduardo teases me as I walk into the kitchen and take out the remaining ingredients from the night before. I place the baking soda on the table with a mighty thunk. "What's that for?"

"The solution to our problem is simple. In order to get rid of the fleas we have to stop them at their source…meaning you lot." I point a finger at them.

"I don't get it."

"To put it simply Russell you all need baths; and long ones at that." They exchange looks among themselves while shifting uncomfortably.

"Er…"

"You mean we'd…?"

"Actually have to get in the water…"

"I don't wanna!"

"Isn't there another way Mistress." With the dominant air about me as the Beast tamer at the moment I pull out a chair and sit crossing my legs. The gesture seems to make them all tense. "Oh don't worry, I'm not going to force you..." their tails wag with relief, "However you do have a choice here. One you can take a bath and make this easier on all of you by riding yourselves of the fleas or two you can stay outside…away from me, the comfy bed, the fresh meat, and any other perks that come with me being your master." I smile but I'm dead serious.

"You- you're bluffing!" the alpha shouts

"Try me." I smirk devilishly. There's a long pause before they all go over to the corner and huddle together talking it over. Some of them raise their head looking back over at me as the try talking it over.

**Hmm…actually I could use the day to set things up for tomorrow…hehe. I hate being mean but it's for their own good.** I stand and slide the door open to the outside.

"It would seem you guys need the night to think about this…so here you go." They all blink realizing that I'm dead serious about this. "Look it's nothing personal I honestly don't mind the bath thing so long as you don't stink up the place(which you seem to do just fine) but I'd rather not have fleas in my house. I'm sure you all understand right?"

"Y-you're seriously going to put us out for the night."

"You're the ones forcing me to do it Eduardo."

"But… we don't want to be away from you…" Christopher looks as though he may start crying,

"Then will you take a bath?"

"Over my dead body!"

"Does Eduardo speak for everyone?" there's no protest and my hand is forced.

"Very well…out." I point outside. A few of them place their ears back as they walk out. Morgan tries to open his mouth, "Not one word." With that he shuts his mouth and heads outside. I look at the smiling, "Have a good night." And I shut the door on them. From that point on I spent the rest of the day figuring out ways to go about this problem.

…

I return a with a basket full of items I plan on using in my plan that I have formulated. I left early in the morning to make it back by mid day. The guys wait for me outside and greet me as always. The only difference is for the past few days they've been sleeping outside since they have fleas. And I was able to use the rest of the remedy to clean my room again. honestly I can tell it's been torture for them, even Eduardo, to be outside rather than inside with me. **I'll admit I've missed their presence in the house as well… but I refuse to let the buggers in my house.**

Russell tries to follow me inside the house and I stop him,

"Uh-uh."

"Oh come on! It's been three days…"

"Has your mind changed about the bath at all?"

"Well…no…"

"Then I'm afraid you still have to stay outside; that goes for the rest of you." They all give me sad puppy dog eyes, "well I did warn you that you would be out here until you got cleaned up didn't I." I can't help but look at them sympathetically, I start my plan luring them in, "Alright…alright…I'll let you all back in okay. Just stop looking at me like that." They all wag their tails, "But I need you all to wait out here for a bit longer ok? I'll let you in but there's something I have to do before I let you in." they understand and wait for me to let them back in. as I close the door behind me I try not to giggle.

…

"There that should do it…" I take one last look at what I have set up making sure everything is in place. **I'm surprised they didn't come in with all the noise. They must be a bit scared that I'll keep them outside.**

I take a key out from my pocket and go around and lock the windows cutting off any escapes before heading for the front door. Keeping the key hidden I open the door keeping the tiny lock on it hidden, "Ok you guys you can come back in now." The waste no time coming back inside and as soon as the last of them enters I slam the door shut and lock the door and place the key in my pocket before meeting the six surprised faces of the wolves.

"What are you doing Reisaki?" Nathan asks first.

"You know I have to admit I'm surprised you lot fell for that; I mean this whole time I've been making a big deal about the fleas and then I suddenly let you back in…you didn't think there was something strange about that?"

"Crap…"

"She tricked us."

"Oh and by the way I wouldn't bother with the windows they're all locked as well as the door and they aren't opening openning until we get rid of the fleas." I walk over to the big wooden basin I filled with the remedy. Along with a few other items I plan on using to catch them. "Now then boys you have one of two options. The first is the easy way. You can each quietly step into the tub and get it over with and we can get back to normal. Or there's the hard way, in which I have come up with specific ways of catching all of you one by one and personally DRAG YOU into the tub. Now what shall it be?" without a second thought they each try to make a hasty exit out of the kitchen; I leap forward and manage to grab ahold of Thomas first, "Gotcha!"

"No! Miss Reisaki please!"

"Up we go…" I pick him up as easily as I did the first time I met him and carry him to the tub,

"NOOO, Please Miss Reisaki! Don't!" I drop him in with a big splash into the tub. Soaking wet he looks up at me with his ears back, "Aw…but why?"

"I'm sorry for being rough with you Thomas; I'll try to be quick ok?" I try showing him that I mean no harm by petting him. Although he gets the message he still doesn't like it at all. Taking a bucket I fill it with the water in the tub and pour it over him before scrubbing him all over. As I pour more water over him I see the dead fleas floating all around him. "…Actually miss Reisaki, I don't really feel itchy anymore…"

"See told you it works…" I pour water over him one more time before I let him out of the tub and strain the water clean of the dead fleas. I watch him for a moment as Thomas shakes himself dry, "One down…five to go." I turn back to a shivering Thomas, "You stay put and no funny business." With that I take a plate full of various meats that I know a certain wolf will not be able to resist. I lay it in the hallway and hide myself in a dark room where I'll be able to trap him at. Within a few minutes I hear paws trotting on the floor and Russell comes into view. He looks this way and that before gobbling up the meat. I wait a few seconds to let him think he's safe before jumping out behind him.

"Bath time Russell!"

"Crap!" he tries squeezing past me but I manage to grab hold of his tail and hold on tight. He drags me a few feat before I dig my heels into the floor and stop him completely. Of course as I take him back to the kitchen he fights me every step of the way. "Guah! Let go! Let go! I'm not getting in there!"

"Don't be such a baby Russell…it's not that…that bad!"

"Get off me!" he tries tripping me up by changing into a human but I just grab hold of his feet. He actually made it a lot easier for me by losing the claws. "No…! Nononononnonononononoooooooooooo!" Finally I get him in the tub, "Damn it that's cold!"

"Don't be such a baby! Now sit still already!" it takes me a minute before I'm able to get him to stay. He finally tires out and changes back to a wolf and sits there allowing me to clean him up. Honestly dealing with Russell I felt more like a mother trying to get her child to take a bath and I gained a newfound respect for any mother who had to deal with a child like Russell. Although I can tell he doesn't want to admit it, he looks relieved that he isn't itching so much now. "Look at the water Russell." He looks down seeing all the dead fleas floating, "Not so bad now was it…"

"…Can I get out now?"

"Yes you can; go wait over there in the sun with Thomas please." He does so without any protest and shakes of the excess water flinging it on Thomas,

"Hey, I'm warm now; please don't do that Russell!"

"Shut up runt; and move over…I'm freezing over here."

"Play nice you two…" I say before I go looking for Christopher. I figured I should get the easier ones done first. I look in a few rooms before realizing that it would be easier to find him a different way. **I don't want to but I'm going to have to use your kind nature against you Christopher…I'll be sure to apologize about that later.** Again I hide in a room out of sight making sure that no other wolf I in here with me before I shout,  
"Christopher, help me! Eduardo's being mean to me!" I somehow manage to make it sound as if I'm actually crying seeing as how Eduardo has somehow managed to do that once or twice. It doesn't take long before I hear Christopher's padded feat running on the floor,

"Eduardo how many times have I told you-!" the second he steps into the room I grab him by the scruff of his neck. His muscles tense before he relaxes with an exasperated sigh, "I thought you were actually in trouble."

"I know…I'm sorry."

"Very clever though…" he says with a smile,

"I'm not proud of it though." instead of struggling he walks calmly back with me although I still hold onto him to make sure he doesn't run off. He quietly surrenders and gets in the tub. He actually seems to be fine for the time being but I can tell he's a bit uncomfortable with it. But because he doesn't fight back he takes the shortest amount of time to clean up. "Alright done."

"Phew…thank you." He jumps out and shakes the water off, "I have to admit that was quick."

"Well because you didn't fight back as much. You can warm up in the sun over there with the others." Christopher trots off over to the sun peaking through the window, "Sorry I tricked you."

"It's ok." **Alright** **three down…three to go. Now who should I go after first…? Morgan.**

Although they all might be the hardest at least I know Morgan won't be as hard as the other two. Especially if I can trick him into the tub with what I have planned. I pick up my little secret for Morgan; the others watch with much interest as I hide it behind me. I place a finger to my lips silencing any outbursts they might have before heading out to look for Morgan. It doesn't take me long to find him.

"The storage…really?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"uh-huh…so are you going to come quietly?"

"I'm not getting in that tub."

"Really? Is that a fact? I', sure Thomas, Russell and Christopher can prove you wrong…they're in the other room drying off as we speak."

"S-so?"

"Listen Morgan…we can do this the easy way or the hard way…either way…YOU ARE GETTING IN THAT TUB."

"Nope, no way. I'm not getting wet. You can look at me with that death glare all you want but I'm not falling for it. You're too nice of a person to be that dark."

"Yeah you're right…I am too nice." From behind my back I produce a very skimpy lacy bra that I know he won't be able to resist. I remembered that the bar last time I found him with that in his mouth. The thought it was a chew toy but of course he didn't know better. The scent on it seemed to appeal to him before so I went the extra mile this time soaking the bra in a scent that he wouldn't be able to resist. Seeing him with that bra in his mouth that one time made me think he liked women…a lot back when he was human. "Then how about this…? a peace offering…"

"Oh…what's that?"

"Some I know you can't resist."

"It smells nice."

"Yeah it does doesn't it? you know I have plenty of these for you; call it a sorry gift for being so mean."

"hey you know you still haven't told me what that thing is anyway."

"Oh I haven't? well it's something that us females wear under our clothes…"

"Oh…"

"Hey Morgan…"

"Yeah…" he suddenly trips falling face first into the tub; he comes up for air looking at me in a daze. I smirk at him and place the bra in the trash, "You…" I take a bucket of water and pour it over his head before patting him on the head.

"Gotcha…"

"Damn it…" knowing that I'm not going to let him out of the tub he sits still as I wash him down. There were plenty of fleas on his head and I take my time to make sure I got all of them before moving downward on his back. As I continue to wash Morgan I hear padded footsteps come into the kitchen pausing I look up to see Nathan.

"Took you long enough…" I say.

"What are you talking about?" Russell asks.

"I was thinking you would be the last one I had to wash off Nathan but I guess you wised up sooner than I thought."

"You put your plan to catch me into action as soon as you started with Thomas…not bad. You're a lot smarter than what I give you credit for."

"Wait what plan?" Thomas asks

"She knew Nathan was most likely going to see through any ploy she came up with to catch him personally like she did us…so she used us to get Nathan to come out." Christopher explains how I waited out for Nathan to come to me.

"Yeah…she knew if I saw her catch enough of you guys that I would come of my own free will."

"Why's that?" Russell asks

"Too much of a hassle for her to come after me especially if I don't fall for it." Morgan shakes of the excess water from his coat and goes to sit in the sun with the others.

"Well at least I can say I don't itch anymore." Morgan laughs.

"That's the other reason I came out of hiding."

"Other reason?" I ask Nathan as he steps up to get his bath.

"I'm tired of these fleas making me itch so much." With that he jumps into the water and sits there waiting for me to start. "I'd rather take a bath than deal with these bugs anymore." With that I start washing him. I honestly thought Nathan would be the last one to wash. But I guess it only took four examples to get him to see things my way. It turns out that Eduardo is going to be the hardest…the fighter. I dump one more bucket of water onto Nathan before I let him out.

"Feel better?" I ask him.

"I'd rather be cold than itchy…"

"Aw you're making it sound like the better of two negatives."

"Don't push it…I still don't like baths."

"Mmm…duly noted." **Alright that's five of them…now I just need to take care of the last one…and knowing Eduardo he's going to fight me every step of the way. Better brace yourself Reisaki…**

I take a deep breath and grab hold of what I need to use in order to catch Eduardo. I have a pretty good idea as to where he is and enter my bedroom. There he stands there ready to fight. He growls slightly; I lean against the doorway,

"I know asking you is a waste of time because all you'll say is over my dead body."

"Good then leave me alone."

"I can't do that…even if I have to fight you every step of the way, you're getting in that tub."

"Big talk coming from you. Somehow I don't believe it." I roll my sleeves up and get ready,

"Then I'll prove it to you." As I walk over to him I take the rope I have from over my shoulder and unwrap it. I make the first move lunging at him and grabbing ahold of him.

"Get off of me!" he trashes around sending me under him and dragging me on the floor as he tries to shake me off. "I'm not taking a bath!"

"Yes you are!" I get back in my feet and manage to grab him by the scruff of his neck, "Even if I have to pull your fur out along the way you're getting in that….TUB! Ah!?" just as I said I stumble back a bit and land on my behind, in my hand I hold a bit of Eduardo's fur. We glare at each other as I stand,

"Sore wa soreda. Watashi wa anata ga akuma ōkami sore o eyou to shite iru sutekina koto owarida... Anata wa ima **IKU**! (that's it. i'm done being nice you are going to get it you devil wolf...you go now.)" Again I lunge at him and take hold of the rope I had dropped at one point or another. All the while I still screech at him in the ancient Yamato language.

"You can harp at me all you want to I'm not going!"

"Damare! Watashi wa anata ga okonatte iru to nobe, anata ga shiyou to shite iru! (shut up! i said you're going; You are going!)" finally I get the rope around his neck like a leash and begin pulling on it.

"Get this rope off me!"

"No you had this coming!" it takes a good amount of time before I'm able to drag him out of the room. And back into the kitchen. Near the tub I had a hook ready and grounded into the wall ready to hold onto Eduardo. I'm able to get him close enough to where he's standing outside the tub but try not to choke him. While he fights against the rope I take a moment to catch my breath. "You are the most stubborn out of all of them. you know that? You might as well stop struggling you're not going to get out of that harness, Bachan showed be how to do that specifically."

"I'm not getting in that tub!" I walk up to him and fold my arms.

"Sorry Eduardo but I think you are." I pick him up and place him in the tub. He manages to take me with him seeing as how the rope somehow got ahold of me but as soon as I sense him trying to get out of the tub I grab hold of all the strength I can and fight him back into the tub. With all the splashing and thrashing there's no need for me to pour water on his head, "Ow- Stop clawing me!"

"Get off me and I will! While you're at it take the damn rope off too!"

"No!" I dunk him under the water for good measure and let him back up.

"Are you trying to kill me?!"

"No just the fleas although I have to say this is a nice little payback!" I dunk him under one more time before letting him up. Finally after I make sure he's been in long enough I untie him and let him rush out of the tub. I still stand in the tub catching my breath still soaking wet from the brawl I had with him. I look down at the water and see all the dead fleas,

"There no more fleas…"

"fleas…yeah you know you could have drowned me."

"That was never my intention…I only put you under the water for a few seconds. Serves you right considering how much of a bully you are." Eduardo shakes the excess water off before glaring at me. "You can be mad at me all you want…I warned you I would fight you the whole way f I had to."

"Mad…no not mad, I'm actually quite impressed." **Impressed? How is it that I manage to impress him? **"You followed through with what you said. I honestly thought you would have given up."

"I'm not as weak as you make me out to be you know." I step out of the tub, "Alright I think I've tortured you all long enough. Time to open the door for you." A hand grips my wrist firmly and I turn to see Eduardo staring at me, his hair damp, "What?"

"You know mistress you look like you have fleas on you too."

"What?"

"yeah I see them too right her Reisaki." Christopher touches the back of my neck.

"Yeah here too."

"I see one! I see one!"

"Looks like you got some here too." **Yeeeee…! Too much…! They're doing this on purpose I know that but this is just mean! They know I'm not used to them switching forms like this too! **

I manage to pull y arm away back away from them.

"N-now wait just a minute what are you guys doing? Come on this isn't funny…!"

"You're the one that needs a bath Reisaki." Scared of the sly looks on their faces I back away and feel myself trip on something. "Yeek!" I land with a big splash in the tub again; my hair lands in front of my face covering my vision. As soon as I move it out of the way six wolves stare at me their tails wagging. "Oh hah hah…very funny."

After fixing the place up I make them something special considering I put them through all that. After I eat something I immediately head to bed. The others follow behind me and take their places they usually have. Thomas once again hides under the covers and I let the covers fall over him.

"Hey Miss Reiski?"

"Mh-hm?"

"Do you think tomorrow we can go to the village with you?" I can sense the excitement as some of them wag their tails.

"well…I guess so long as you guys behave yourselves."

"Really?"

"Yeah consider it a sorry for today."

"Hey what about the Butcher shop are you going there tomorrow too?"

"Yes Eduardo…but none of us are going if we don't get any sleep." With that everyone settles down and we finally fall asleep under a peaceful starry night.

(End)

**Phew…well that took longer than I thought it would anyway I hope you guys like this little side story^^ let me know what you think it may make a difference as to whether or not of I make more side stories of not.**


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